Harry Potter and the Healer's Touch
by geekysoundcat
Summary: Neville Longbottom was the one attacked that night and proclaimed the boy who lived. Harry Potter's two years older then he is in cannon and grows up orphaned until he is found. Discovering his mother is stuck in a coma he becomes determined to save her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. Unfortunately for me Harry Potter does in fact belong to J.K Rowling. If I did own Harry Potter I would have hell of a lot more money. Such a shame.

**Author's Note: **In this story Harry Potter is not the boy-who-lived. That infamous title belongs to Neville Longbottom. Harry Potter is two years older then he is in canon. For those of you who don't understand, this means that when Neville starts his first year at Hogwarts Harry will already be in his third year. Nymphadora Tonks might not be portrayed as the correct age and for that I apologise. Harry is not going to look exactly like his canon self, after all if he was born two years older it wouldn't exactly the same egg and sperm match now would it. But, we'll assume that the Potter genes are strong, so he won't look much too different.

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'Fishing' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts

**Prologue **

The air held an autumn chill as the tall figure made his way across the street. Little children ran passed laughing and pushing each other playfully in their Halloween costumes. One of the children noticed the intimidating figure and stopped.

"Nice costume mister!" shouted the little boy from behind the white sheet of his ghost outfit, before running off to catch up to his friends. The figure stayed silent, but from within the shadows of his hood he sneered. _How pathetic,'_he thought dismissively before continuing on through the night to his destination.

Doing his best to ignore the cheerful atmosphere his gate seemed to increase imperceptibly as he got closer to the place his subordinate had been so kind in disclosing. His eyes gleamed maliciously as he reached the house he had been searching for. Looking through the front window he saw what many would describe as the perfect family scene.

The father threw his young son into the air a large grin on his face as the boy squealed in fear and delight. His wife looked on fondly with a happy smile, having witnessed a similar scene many times before.

Was he still a young boy the dark figure might have felt bitterness and jealousy as he looked upon the familial scene he had never experienced. Was he a kinder soul perhaps he would have given up his wicked intentions and walked away. But, he was neither, he was Lord Voldemort and tonight he planned to remove the last threat to his immortality.

Pausing for a moment he made to detect any wards around the house that might prevent him entering.

The couple inside froze as they felt the wards crashing around the house. Following their first instincts they attempted to apparate away, then use their portkeys that Dumbledore had set up in the case of an emergency… but it was futile. Anti-appartion and anti-portkey wards had been set up. Fear spiked higher in their hearts.

Footsteps sounded on the porch.

"Alice run, he's here! Take Neville and run! GO!" Frank shouted, before grabbing his wand, turning around and facing the door his heart pounding in his chest. He hoped they got away, he would give them as much time as he could, but he knew it wouldn't be much.

The door creaked open and he swallowed roughly.

As he stepped into the room the air seemed to drop several degrees and Frank felt his heart stutter in his chest. Before he completely froze he shot off a spell that was easily deflected.

"Hello, Frank Longbottom," the voice hissed before he saw a flash of green light and knew no more.

Lord Voldemort smiled maliciously as he stepped over the fallen body and made his was up the stairs. When he reached the top of the stairs he searched for their magical signatures and moved to the bedroom at the end of the hall where he felt them. Pushed open the door and saw Alice standing protectively in front of her son. Her wand nowhere to be seen. He guessed she had left it behind in the rush to leave. Still, she did not cower before him. She stood protectively in front of her son brave and _foolish_, his mind added, to the last. She did not have to die. After all she was a powerful witch, and he appreciated power. But, if she did not move he would kill her.

"Stand aside, girl!" he said said waving his wand to the side.

"No, please, leave Neville! Kill me instead, please kill me!"

"Stand aside!" he said giving her one last chance.

"Not Neville, please," she said tears rolling down her cheeks voice filled with desperation.

"_**Avada Kedavra**__,_" he hissed in his whispery voice and she fell to the floor in a flash of green light, heart stopped mid beat.

He stepped round her and gazed down at the boy that was prophesied to bring about his defeat. He found that hard to believe, but he wasn't taking any chances. Pointing his wand at the young boys head he looked down into innocent eyes of the boy he was about to kill.

"Goodbye, Neville Longbottom… _**Avada Kedavra**__,_" he whispered.

Upon seeing the green spell leave his wand he expected the boy to fall down dead like all before him had. Instead he felt an excruciating pain that seemed to tear at the very fibres of his soul. A howling scream was torn from his throat and his body collapsed to the floor. A smokey figure seemed to rise from the body. It knew nothing of what had happened. But, it felt emotions, it felt instinct and its instincts said to attack the crying boy in crib, its instincts said that the boy was dangerous.

However, it knew it was weak and would be unable to harm the boy. With this in mind it flew off to recuperate. It would be back one day to eliminate the threat the boy posed.

Two days later at the Potter household the most devoted of Voldemort's followers attacked to gather information about the demise of their Lord. James Potter was killed first. Momentarily disgraced by the death of her husband, Lily Potter was hit by a dark curse fired by Bellatrix Lestrange that knocked her into a permanent state of unconsciousness.

**Chapter 1**

He was leaning against the back porch railing reading a book when he heard them. The thundering sound of footsteps pounded against the old wooden floor behind him and he felt the ground vibrate slightly from beneath him. The loud bang of the back door behind him alerted him to their presence. When they noticed him sitting there they stopped running and walked towards him.

Sighing softly he closed his book and stood up finally meeting the eyes of the three boys who had interrupted his reading time. They were the same age as him, but shorter. Although, that might have been more because he was tall for his age then because they were short.

He observed them, as he waited for them to talk. The boy in the middle was the shortest of the three, with pale freckled skin and brown eyes. His face was not dissimilar to that of a pig and his stocky frame did nothing, but add to the comparison. But, the one thing that made Harry shudder was the orange hair on top of his head. It disturbed him beyond belief and he felt the urge to distance himself from the monstrosity. He remembered that his mother's hair was red, but that was different. It was red. Not the gingery orange before him.

Attempting to distract himself from the unnaturalness that was the boys hair, his eyes moved to his companies, not that there was much to look at. They were both equally boring with mousy brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin and plain faces. Although, the glasses on the one boys face did serve to differentiate him from his twin.

"Sam, Greg," he greeted the two brown haired boys in his typically quiet, husky voice. He looked at the ginger and shuddered, "Henry."

"Potter," Henry replied. "Can I have a word?"

Harry nodded in acceptance.

"I know you hate us, and we don't really like you either." _Not true,_ Harry wanted to say. He didn't hate them, just felt a sort of indifference. The only thing he did hate was that gods be damned hair.

"But, the boys from St. Marks down the road challenged us to a baseball match. It would have been a cricket match, but we can't find our bats and they won't let us borrow theirs. Plus, our soccer ball popped last week and we haven't had a chance to replace it. Anyway, they challenged us and as much as I hate to say it," and boy did he really hate to ask for help from the freaky bookworm, "we need you."

"Oh, but I'm sure there are enough children around the orphanage who would love to play. Why do you need me?" He asked, although he knew exactly why. He just wanted to here them say it.

"Come on Potter, you and I both know you can hit any ball thrown at you out of the park if you have a bat in your hands. In fact you don't even need a bat, you could probably do the same with a broken stick." The boy knew he was hamming it up a bit, but he needed Potter's help. He was not about to lose to those idiots.

Harry eyed the boy up and down as he considered. On one hand he would have to be in the presence of the… unnaturalness, for an extended period of time if he were to play. Plus 'The Lord of the Rings', the book he was reading, was really good. On the other hand he really liked to play baseball, he found it very great for working out his frustration… and he really hated those stuck up boys from St. Marks.

Finally he nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll play, but only because I hate those St. Marks boys."

Harry's face held an uncommon grin as he stepped up to the plate. Unfortunately, it held a quality that seemed to unnerve the St. Mark's pitcher. Gulping slightly the boy stepped up to the plate.

Looking into those creepy green eyes and wicked smile was unnerving. But, he wasn't going to back down to some orphan boy. Gathering his courage he breathed in deeply before winding back then throwing the ball with all his might. It was a great pitch, in his opinion. Probably his best of the game. However, he didn't know that when it was Harry you're pitching to it didn't matter if your throw was perfect. You were still going to be smashed out of the park.

Swinging the bat forward Harry's shot connected perfectly. Smiling wickedly as he watched the ball fly off Harry dropped the bat and jogged casually around the field for a home run. The grin never leaving his face.

It was probably at this point that the St. Marks boys realised that they were doomed. Harry just couldn't be beaten. Luckily for them Harry didn't get to see the end of the game though. So, while they still lost, they didn't have to look at Harry's smirking face while it happened.

It was just after Harry had hit another home run and they were nearing the end of their impromptu game that Harry was called away by the Matron. He had no idea why. Ever since the Dursleys had dropped him off here after only having him for two days nobody had come to see or adopt him. Not that he expected to be adopted. Not many people were adopted and those who were, were usually younger then five.

So, just like every child at the orphanage he had given up hope as soon as he'd turned five.

Seeing as he had just turned nine a few months ago and wondered who on earth had come to see him. He found adoption highly unlikely, if not a distant possibility. He attempted to interrogate the Matron, but much to his chagrin she refused to say a word. She told him he would have to wait to find out. It irritated and excited him at the same time. Who was his mysterious visitor? _Or visitors, _his mind added.

His thoughts were still chasing each other in circles by the time they reached the orphanage. In fact he was so surprised that he nearly tripped over the back porch steps. Fortunately he was saved by luck and quick reflexes, managing to catch himself before he face onto the hard wood and got splinters in his face. But it did help him noticed his book lying on the steps, so it couldn't be all bad. He quickly picked it up before hurrying after the Matron.

By the time they reached their destination his hole body was taut as a wound string and he felt as if he was going to explode with curiosity. It seemed that the Matron was opening the door in slow motion, just to mock him. _Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, _he chanted repetitively in his head

It seemed like forever and an age until the door opened he finally got to see who was here to see him.

He drew a blank. He had no idea who these people were. They both appeared to be in there late thirties. The man had fair hair with blue eyes and a kind open face that seemed accustomed to smiling. He appeared to be of average height with a big belly. For some reason he just made Harry think of Father Christmas, despite his lack of beard. The woman at his side seemed to be his opposite in appearance. She had soft, light brown hair, dark eyes and aristocratic features. This coupled with her tall, slender figure one gave one an expectancy of an unapproachable or arrogant aura. But, the kindness in her eyes and the soft smile on her face when she looked at Harry belied that.

It was now when he looked her closely that he felt a stirring in his memories, but he had not idea who the man was.

The Matron got his attention back when she spoke, "Harry, if I may introduce, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks." She paused before turning to their visitors, "This is the only Harry Potter in the orphanage so I assume that he is the Harry you are looking for."

"Hello Mr. Tonks, Mrs. Tonks," he politely. Still not sure why they wanted to meet him.

"Hello Harry," greeted the woman, "and please call me Andi, its certainly better then Andromeda or Mrs. Tonks."

"And call me Ted," said the man with smile.

"Alright then, Andromeda, Ted," he replied. Andromeda raised a brow at his audacity, but seemed to find it more amusing then anything else. "Is there any particular reason you wished to meet with me?"

"You didn't tell him?" asked the blonde haired man with a frown.

"Well, I thought it best you did. After all this will be a bit of a surprise."

"Um… hello… still in the room. What do you have to tell me?" he asked.

Continuing to ignore him the Matron spoke to the couple, "Well, I suppose I'll leave you to it." She then turned and let the room, shutting the door behind her.

This left them alone together. It was so awkward Harry was surprised he hadn't fled the room yet. He supposed his natural curiosity, which he'd often been told would kill him, was stronger then his need to flee. Finally letting out a sigh Harry crossed to the other side of the room and sat down on one of the two empty chairs in the room.

Finally he decided to ask questions. He assumed by the fact that the dark haired woman stirred feelings of familiarity that he had met her before. Which meant that perhaps they had known his parents. They had also asked for him but name, so unless they were seriously creepy stalkers he guessed they must have known him. So, he decided to ask questions with that thought in mind.

"Did you know my parents?" he asked.

Surprised by his question they both stayed quite for a few seconds before Andromeda answered, "Yes, me and Ted knew your parents. I, in particular, am good friends with your mother."

"'Am', you said 'am' not were. My mother is alive? I thought she was dead. Did she… did she choose abandon me?" he asked not sure how to feel at the thought. Happy that she was alive or sad at being unwanted.

It seemed that Andromeda was going to be doing most of the talking because she interrupted his thoughts almost as quickly as they began. "No, no, no Harry! Never think that!"

"Then why use the 'am'?" he asked.

She sighed and seemed to be searching for the words as she rubbed her forehead. He decided to help her out a bit. She truly seemed to be a good person. Besides, if they knew his parents then they shouldn't be surprised about what he was going to tell them.

"I remember you know."

They looked at him questioningly, confused as to exactly what he was talking about.

"The magic. I remember."

They both inhaled sharply. _He remembers… _was the thought on both their minds.

"Some of that night as well," he said suddenly finding the cover of his book very interesting. "Not what happened to them exactly. But, being hidden away in my room. I remember the shouts and the sounds. Then the silence-" he stopped not finding himself able to continue. It surprised him, he thought he had gotten over that night. Over their deaths, but perhaps hearing that his mother was alive stirred some forgotten emotions. He felt tears pooling at the corners of his eyes and wiped them away quickly. He was _not _going to embarrass himself by crying in front of strangers.

"Anyway," he continued on, "the point is that I remember. What I want know is why my mother is alive, but not here?"

He looked up at their faces and almost winced at the sympathy he saw there. He was just glad they hadn't tried to get up an comfort him. It was bad enough they'd seen him in a moment of weakness. Seeming to understand this Andromeda began to speak.

"We're both surprised Harry, that you seem to not only remember, but believe that your memories were real and not the case of a fantastical imagination. I can tell you what happened to your mother, but to do so I must start at further back in the story. Is that fine?"

Harry nodded. _Of course it's fine, _he wanted to say, _just tell me what happened. _

"Alright, well the story starts with You-Know-Who-"

"No, I don't," Harry couldn't help, but interrupt.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You said that the story starts with You-Know-Who, but I don't know who. Who is it that I'm supposed to know?" Harry asked.

Ted seemed absolutely amused by this predicament and decided to help his wife out. He was more comfortable saying the name then her. "His name's Lord Voldemort. But, most people don't say his name. People call him the Dark Lord or You-Know-Who."

"With a name like that I'm not surprised," he said.

Andromeda looked like she was about to faint.

"Stop, please," she managed to say.

"Well, I suppose i'll have to if I want to here this story. But, I must point out that beginning a story by introducing a character as You-Know-Who is just not the way to go."

"I'm just going to ignore that last sentence and carry on with my explanation. As I was saying, the story begins with You-Know Who," she gave Harry a pointed look before continuing. "He was a man that took blood purity a step further then mere hatred and dislike towards muggles and muggleborns. He decided that he was going to eliminate their existence."

"What're they?" asked Harry

"Muggles are non-magical people, muggleborns are magical born to non-magical people, halfbloods are people who have one magical and one non-magical parent and purebloods are people who have had only magical blood in their family for many generations. You yourself could be considered either a halfblooded or first generation pureblood." Ted explained for him.

He nodded his head in understanding and looked towards Andromeda to continue. She was wondering if she was ever going to finish.

"Right, sorry Harry, forgot that you haven't spent the last few years in our world. Anyway, he began to gather followers from people who also followed his beliefs. His followers became known as Death Eaters. Another faction was formed to oppose You-Know and his followers. They were called the Order of the Phoenix and were lead by Albus Dumbledore, a powerful wizard that defeated the previous Dark Lord, Grindlewald. Your parents were a part of this organisation, as were we."

She took a deep breath to gather herself before continuing, "Things escalated to the point of a full on war. A war which we were losing. It was nearing the darkest point of the war that Voldemort was defeated by a one year old boy, Neville Longbottom."

"Wait, wait, wait, are you seriously telling me that a one year old child defeated some all powerful wizard? Was he some kind of super baby or something, because I just can't see that happening any other way?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Nobody's sure how it happened, but it did and we aren't about to complain about his defeat. There are of course that believe he's still around just waiting for the right moment to return," she explained.

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all," he muttered with an eye roll.

"What? It's true. In fact the biggest supporter of this belief is Dumbledore himself."

"That reminds me! What is up with you people and terrible names, first Voldemort and now Dumbledore. I think I'm just going to start calling everyone You-Know-Who otherwise I'm going to feel like I'm just insulting them just by calling them by their names," he smiled as he said it. He couldn't help it. Despite the seriousness of the situation this was the first time he'd had a conversation that extended past a few sentences.

Andromeda shook her head as if she'd simply given up. Ted just smiled, quite amused by the situation.

"Moving on from that," she loudly pronounced, "because it seems as if I'm never going to get to the end of this explanation. So, it was two days after his defeat that your parents were attacked. As important members of the Order it seemed that the Death Eaters felt they would have information on the location of You-Know-Who. They refused to believe he had been defeated. Your father was killed," she said remorsefully.

Harry bowed his head sadly. She'd never said that he'd lived, but he'd held a small hope when she'd basically implied that his mother was alive.

"Your mother did survive, _but_ she was hit by a dark curse that sent her into a magically induced coma. She hasn't woken or shown any signs of awareness since then," she finished quietly.

Harry continued to look at the floor. Fiddling with the edges of hist book. A small tear rolled down his cheek that he quickly wiped away. He didn't know if it was from happiness that she was alive or sadness that she would never wake. The emotions were just so strong and he tried desperately to reel them in. Succeeding to an extent he looked up trying desperately to hide the emotions in his eyes. Whilst they might have known him as a child and they had just had a very personal conversation they were still strangers and he hated showing his emotions in front of strangers

"Are they sure that my mother will never wake?" he asked, his voice even huskier then usual.

"There is no known cure, I mean there is the of chance that-"

"You said, no known cure. So, someone might perhaps find one. Right?" he asked.

She didn't want to be cruel and crush his hope, but at the same time she didn't want to give him false. Sigh despondently she decided to just be honest he seemed like he could handle it. "Harry, the chances of that happening are slim to none."

"But, it is possible?" he asked with determination.

"Yes, it is possible," she answered reluctantly.

_Then I'll make it happen. _He though with determination, _I find a way. I'll do everything a can to save her like she saved me and I won't stop until I succeed._

"Back to other matters." he said suddenly. "Why is it that you're here?" he asked

"I thought that would be obvious," answered Ted, "we're hear to adopt you."

Harry frowned, "Why now? I've been here for six years."

"There were… problems with locating you," Ted answered.

"What do mean? It can't have been that heard."

Ted decided it was his place to explain now. Taking a deep breath he began, "It has to do with your parent's will and the fact that it was not executed correctly. You see, in the event of their death you were to be given to either your godmother, Alice Longbottom who is dead, or your godfather, Sirius Black who is in prison. This meant that Remus Lupin was to be given custody of you, but he's a werewolf and due to prejudices within the wizarding society is unable to claim custody of you. We, or more specifically Andromeda, was meant to be given custody of you, but like I said the will was not executed correctly. For some reason you were handed to your mother's sister Petunia. Who immediately gave you over to the orphanage. Correct?"

Harry nodded.

"We didn't know that. During the first year after the war things were so chaotic and busy we didn't have the time to really think about it. The next two years we just assumed you had been given to Lupin and he just hadn't had the chance to visit. But, after a time we got suspicious. We visited the ministry to see who you had been given to. They had no records of who you had been given to. We then visited Gringotts, the wizard bank to find out what happened. It was here we discovered that the will had not been executed."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We've been searching for any word of you in both the magical and muggle world for years. It was just three weeks ago that Andi caught sight of you walking down the street when she was on the way to the Leaky Cauldron and we found you. It was pure chance and luck that we managed to find you."

"How did you recognise me though?" he asked with a frown.

Andromeda smiled at him with such warmth that he actually blushed and looked at the floor, unused to such kindness shown in his direction.

"You do look so much like your father Harry. Taller then he was at your age with your mother's green eyes and hints of her features in your face, but your father's looks just seem to over power them. In fact the biggest thing that threw me off was the fact that you don't wear glasses. Still you can't look at you and not know that you are James's son," she finished with a smile.

"From there it was just a matter of tracking you down," continued Ted, "and well, here we are."

Harry was in a state of shock. The day had just been such an emotional roller coaster.

Andromeda seemed to mistaken his shock for hesitation. "Do you," she paused as if finding the question difficult to answer, "do you not want to be adopted?"

That certainly got Harry out of his shock.

"Are you insane! Of course I do!" he shouted in surprise at the question, "I just… what about my mum? Will she no longer have custody of me? Will she still be considered my mother in the eyes of the law?"

"Yes, Harry. Things can be arranged like that. She can still be considered you primary care giver. We will just be given guardianship over you," she said with a soft smile.

"That's fine then, uh, how long will it take for this happen?"

"Well, we can pick you up tomorrow," she said.

"That quick! Aren't there forms and those sorts of things to sort through?"

Andromeda blushed a surprisingly bright shade of red. "We… uh… just assumed you'd be happy to be adopted and filed the adoption forms about two and a half weeks ago."

Harry couldn't help, but laugh. "No wonder you seemed worried when you thought I didn't want to be adopted."

They eventually finished their discussion and called the Matron, who'd fallen asleep waiting, back into the room to finalise things. When they left they both gave Harry a hug, much to his blushing embarrassment. Before walking down the street and apparating away in the nearest dark alleyway.

Although, he had packed his things last night Harry couldn't help, but wake up early his body humming with excitement. He decided that for old times sake he would walk around the old place.

Walking around the orphanage and he couldn't help, but realise this would be his last time walking through it. He couldn't find it within himself to regret it. The orphanage was an old place. Paint peeling off the walls, creaky wooden floors, dust and dirt lingering in most places and small dormitories shared by large groups of children. But, it wasn't even the orphanage itself that he disliked that much. It was the people in it.

They were not cruel to most, but when strange things happened around you other children tended to stay away. He knew it was accidental magic, he remembered doing it even before he got the orphanage and how proud his parents had been when he had suddenly vanished from his toy room and reappeared in the kitchen only moments later because he was hungry. He remembered that after seeing him perform accidental magic Petunia had decided to send him to the orphanage.

Still, he know he couldn't exactly blame the other children's aversion completely on his magic. It also had to do with him. He knew he didn't behave like most children. He preferred solitude over the company of others, although he would have liked a friend. He was aware of the fact that he not many children his age could comprehend the same things he could. Not most children could read Lord of the Rings at seven. For him though it was fun. It was something new, something exciting. He loved learning new things. This usually translated into reading a lot of books.

It was how he'd earning the nickname the 'freaky bookworm'. But, at least he'd had fun when they'd played games like baseball and cricket. Other kids loved to have him on their team. His team usually won.

He smiled, it was a sad smile that didn't belong on a child's face.

He was going to be leaving it all behind soon. It wasn't all bad memories and it certainly wasn't all good memories. But, this place had given him three square meals a day and a roof over his head, something he knew some children couldn't say. So, even if he was happy to be saying goodbye. It would always be a part of his past.

_But, I'm starting a new life, _he thought as he stared out the orphanage window.

He couldn't wait.

**Author's Note: **Sorry that not much happened, but I needed to get a sort of introduction to him as a character out of the way as well as how he ends up with the Tonks Family and I felt this was the best way. Also, had to get all those explanations about Voldemort and his parents out of the way. So at least that's done and I don't have to worry about it now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter. Unfortunately for me Harry Potter does in fact belong to J.K Rowling. If I did own Harry Potter I would have hell of a lot more money. No… I would be bathing in it. Empty my swimming pool and fill it with money and bath in it. So… beautiful.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews and lack of painful insults, I do appreciate constructive criticism. I would like to let any readers out there know that Harry is not going to end up so powerful that he ends up some sort of God that people bow down and worship because of how amazing he is with his own harem following him around. It also won't be wandless magic this and wandless magic that. If it was so easy Dumbledore or Voldemort would do it all the time. While those stories have their place this will not be one of them. He will be strong bit in a realistic way. He'll probably be Voldemort or Dumbledore strong, maybe a bit stronger. It's one of the reasons I only wanted him to be able to get his hands on magical information when he was nine. If I started to young it would have been harder not to make him over-powered. Also, there isn't going to be any heavy bashing in this story. I just can't do it, makes me feel like I'm being mean to a real person. Sorry, if you like that. Generally if I don't really like a character that much I'll just avoid them a bit. Of course there will be some dislike shown towards their character's shown, but it will be within the realm of possibility. After all, there are always character's that people don't like in stories. From the mean girl cheerleader to the evil overlord. It happens.

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'Fishing' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts

**Chapter 2:**

Harry had been at the Tonks' house since midway through September and it was nearing time for the Christmas holidays, although it seemed that the proper way to refer to Christmas in the wizarding world was Samhain as he'd learned. As it was, up until now he had been having a great time.

When he'd first arrived he had taken a few days to get himself situated. Then he'd discovered their library and felt like he was going to explode with happiness when he'd taken in the number of books on the shelves. After a spectacular fail at trying to read the first book he picked up, which most advanced book on Ancient Runes they owned, he'd gone to ask Andromeda for help. It wouldn't have been so strange if not for the fact that he'd never gone to get help for anything before.

She'd laughed loudly when he'd explained his situation and then explained to him that he should begin by reading the most basic texts on each subject before tackling books that look like they could swallow him. He'd blushed cutely before nodding silently in embarrassment. He felt as if that metaphor would haunt him the rest of his life. But at least he'd gotten help. She'd shown him their smaller bookshelf at the back of their vast library that held their old school books and simpler texts. That had been a huge help.

From then on he'd spent his weekends with Ted and Andromeda, getting to know them better and his weekdays reading in the library. Of course trying to understand and really comprehend the books was a difficult task. He was smart for his age and would probably still be considered smart for people several years older then him. Still he couldn't actually practice his magic without a wand. He'd had to practice wand movements with sticks in the back yard and even then he couldn't be one hundred percent sure he'd gotten the movements right.

After reading through several books he'd found himself most interested in Charms and Transfiguration. After seeing the inside of an Ancient Runes textbook he still felt to terrified to actually look at any of the third year elective books yet. So, instead he decided to focus on the first and second year subjects for a while before looking at those to much. One, because they looked really complicated and two because there were still two years before he started his formal education and another two before he started those subjects, so he decided to leave them alone for now.

There was of course something he hadn't been aware of when he'd agreed to live with them.

Something he'd discovered almost as soon as he'd arrived. The fact that they had a daughter. Of course it didn't stay that way what with they dozens and dozens of pictures he'd seen of a young girl a few years older then himself hung up on the walls. He'd just pointed at the closest picture accusingly and raised and eyebrow.

Andromeda had blushed. Ted had quickly looked away pretended to look like he hadn't seen what he was pointing at.

"And who, might I ask, is this?"

"Well, uh," stuttered Andromeda, "that may or may not be our daughter."

"May or may not?"

"Alright, she's our daughter," she confessed before copying Ted's action of looking away.

"And you didn't mention her before, why?" he asked.

"We may or may not have forgotten," answered Ted, mimicking his wife's earlier statement.

"May or may not?"

"Alright, we forget," he admitted.

"How could you forget you own daughter?"

"It was an emotionally stressful time. It's not that much of a surprise!" she pleaded.

Harry had just shaken his head and decided that it was best he move on. He wasn't upset that they had a daughter, on the contrary he was excited to meet her. But, he'd just wished they'd told him.

Since then he had been excited to meet their daughter whom they had informed him was called Nymphadora, but now that it was nearing the holidays he was feeling nervous.

It wasn't only the meeting with Nymphadora that had him nervous, it was also because Andromeda had promised that she would take him to see his mother for the first time on Christmas Eve. Well, she had simply said she would take him. He had asked if he could be taken there on Christmas Eve.

However, at the present he was standing on platform nine and three-quarters waiting for Nymphadora to arrive on the train. It was nerve wracking.

He'd been tapping his fingers against his pant leg of his jeans when he'd heard the rather loud sound of the old fashioned steam-engine train approaching. For a moment he'd considered bolting, but Ted's strong grip on his shoulder had prevented his thoughts from translating into actions. Crossing his arms and pouting in a manner that was decidedly childish he glared at his shoes as if it were all their fault he was in this situation. _This sucks! _was his mental cry.

Andromeda looked down at the boy next to her and smiled in amusement. The expression on his face was so cute and childish that she had to stifle a giggle that she knew would utterly embarrass him. She forgot sometimes, due to his startling intellect, that he was just a nine year old boy. A very nervous nine year old boy.

From what she'd managed to gather he'd had very little interaction with people his own age beyond a basic conversation. She hoped their first meeting would go okay. Thinking along those lines she grimaced guilty, perhaps they should have warned Harry that Nymphadora wasn't particularly fond of her first name. She quickly got over that feeling when she thought of what kind of reaction her daughter would have to being greeted as Nymphadora for their first meeting.

Looking back at Harry she noticed he was still glaring cutely at his feet.

"Oh Harry, you look so cute when you pout," she cooed. Harry looked up at her in horror.

"I'm not cute!" was all he managed to get out.

"Yes Harry, you're quite right! You are absolutely manly, I'm sure Nym will love you," she smirked. Luckily he was spared further embarrassment by a shout and the sound of a body and bag falling to the floor.

Looking left the first thing Harry saw was a violet. Then the sound of cursing reached his ears and the person whom the violet belonged to stood up and he realised that the violet was actually hair. Moving further down he noticed a beautiful heart-shaped face and dark twinkling eyes. His eyes widened slightly as they continued their downward journey and noticed the beginnings of a womanly figure. Then he realised the person he had been staring at was the person they were supposed to be meeting.

He blushed heavily and looked at the ground. Her beauty and figure were a lot more noticeable in person.

If any adult had been watching his face as he took in his first look at her they would have smirked gleefully as they recognised the symptoms of a crush. Of course they would have felt a great deal of sympathy too if they had continued to watch the events that followed his first look at Nymphadora.

She dusted herself off after getting up and carried on towards her parents. When she noticed them looking in her direction after her spectacular fall she didn't even bother to blush, her common clumsy events were far to common to be embarrassed about, instead she waved and smiled, happy to be home for the holidays. It was during this wave that she noticed the smaller figure standing next to them and realised that he must be the boy that her parents wrote to her about.

He was taller then she expected a nine year old to be, but otherwise seemed to fit her parents description of him right down to the messy black hair. She smiled at him in greeting, but he seemed too surprised that she knew who he was to return the greeting.

Reaching them the fourteen year old witch gave a big hug to both her parents before turning to the young boy standing next to them.

"Hello Harry," she greeted with a smile and a little wave.

"Hello Nymphadora," he replied in his quiet husky voice.

She saw red and acted on instinct, something she regretted later. "Don't call me Nymphadora!" she yelled before kneeing him in the groin. He gasped, his eyes bulged, his hands dropped to his groin and he collapsed to the floor in agony.

There went his crush out the window.

"I'm really, really sorry Harry," she whined as she begged for his forgiveness.

She'd been doing the same thing for the last ten minutes.

He continued to ignore her.

One because he wasn't sure he could open his mouth without whining in pain, two because he was feeling slightly upset at the way their first meeting had gone and three because he wasn't sure he could open his mouth without whining in pain. They had arrived back at the Tonks' household about five minutes ago and he was still waiting for Andromeda to find the healing salve to sooth his pain. It was torture.

She interrupted his inner whining when she started up her pleading again. "Please forgive me Harry, I'll do anything."

_That's new_, he thought. Then smirked slightly, he would make her wish she hadn't kneed him in the family jewels, oh yes he would. The mini Harry in his head cackled evilly. She would pay.

"Anything?" he asked in a soft and deceptively sweet voice.

Tonks seemed to perk up at his reply and nodded happily, not catching on to the tone in his voice. "Yes, yes, anything."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise," she said happily, unaware that she was being out smarted by a nine year old.

"Cool, well…" he said pretending hesitance, "I want permission to call you Nymphadora from now on without punishment from you."

"Sure," she agreed. Before she stopped and actually thought back to what she had just agreed to. "No, no, no, no no, I take it back, I take it back! Please let me take it back! Why must you chose such a harsh and evil punishment!" she wailed.

"Penance," he said simply.

"Pen- what?" she asked.

"Penance, a voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong," he explained.

"But- but, this isn't voluntary, this is blackmail!" she cried.

He felt a moment of sympathy, but pushed it down. Now was not the time to be feeling sympathy for the one who'd incapacitated him.

"Yes, actually it is voluntary. You said you would do anything and this is what you have to do. You even agreed to it," he replied a tad smugly. "You can't take it back, you already promised and you know what they say about breaking a wizard's promise."

"What do they say? Am I going to lose my magic if I break it?" she asked terrified.

"Uh… no, that's an unbreakable vow. If you purposefully break a wizards promise you will be cursed with bad luck for the rest of your life," he said ominously. Of course he was actually pulling this straight out his ass. He had no idea if such a thing existed, but if it scared Tonks into agreeing with him he would go along with his spontaneous idea.

She gasped in horror.

He nodded sagely. "So… will you continue your promise or break it and be cursed."

"Fine," she ground out, "you can call me Nymphadora."

"Thanks Nymphadora," he said with an evil smile that made her curse under her breath. She was going to hate this, nobody was every allowed to use her first name.

Having waited outside the room for the conversation to finish Andromeda snickered quietly. It was absolutely priceless. Still snickering slightly to herself she entered the room causing both it's occupants to jump in surprise.

"Here Harry, I've found the potion I was looking for," she said with a smile.

"Potion? I thought you said it was a healing salve?" he asked in confusion.

"Couldn't find the salve, so you'll have to use the potion. Unless you'd rather wait for it to heal naturally," she said with raised brow making to walk away with the potion.

"Nope, no, a potion is fine," he rushed out, desperate to get rid of the pain.

"Alright then," she said handing him the cup with the potion in it. Not even bothering to smell it, being completely unaware of the often disgusting flavour of most healing potions, he downed it quickly in one gulp. Moments later he was hacking his way through a violent coughing fit that threatened to bring up a lung. Groaning when he finally stopped he threw a glare at the laughing Andromeda.

"Why didn't you warn me about that," he accused.

"Probably because she wanted to see the look on your face," a laughing Tonks managed to choke out.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"Yes, your highness," she said with mocking bow.

He just glared at the floor and muttered under his breath. At least his groin wasn't hurting anymore. He'd take what he could get.

Sitting up in his room reading a book in the quiet of the house he'd nearly had a heart attack when his door burst opening. Jumping in surprise he'd fallen off his bed and landed on the floor in an ungainly heap. Cursing under his breath he pushed himself into a standing position and glared at the laughing Tonks with a cute pout on his face.

One, because she had interrupted his reading and it was a really good transfiguration book that had him utterly fascinated. Two, because she came in without knocking which led to his face to floor greeting. And three, because she was laughing at him. He sighed in exasperation when she seemed no more near to stopping then she had when she started. Sitting back on the bed he'd continued his reading as he waited for her laughing fit end.

Finally finishing up she plopped herself on the end of his bed. "Hey, Harry," she greeted with a mild snicker under her breath as she recalled his spectacular fall. It was nice to see someone other then her display wonderful feats of clumsiness.

With a sigh he closed his book and returned the greeting. They'd interacted with each other several times over the past few days, but other then their talk together regarding Harry's use of her first name, they hadn't really spent any time together without one of Tonks's parents around.

"So, what're you up to?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Well, I was reading a book on Transfiguration until you interrupted me," he said pointing at the book next to him.

She looked at the cover, but didn't recognise it. Usually this would have prompted several questions about the book. But, she decided to push that aside in favour of her mission.

"Cool. So, tell me more about yourself Harry. Mum and Dad wrote a bit about you in their letters, but they didn't mention to much."

"Well… I suppose that would be fine, but I want to know about you too. I mean, I didn't even know you existed until I got to the house and saw your pictures," he said.

"What! Mum and Dad forgot about me!" she asked with a horror stricken look on her face.

"Yeah."

"I can't believe it," she said with a pathetic pout on her face, "that is so not cool."

"Hey, come on it's not that bad," he comforted.

"Yes it is, they will pay," she said with determination. "Yes, I will make them pay."

"Er… well okay."

Coming back to herself Tonks gave him an accusing glare, "You distracted me."

"I didn't mean to," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," she said eying him up and down.

"Didn't you want to get to know me?" he asked hoping it would get her to stop glaring.

"Yes, so tell me about yourself," she gestured for him to begin.

"What about me getting to know you?"

"You can ask that stuff when I'm done."

"Fine, okay well… ask away," he offered.

"Er… what colour is your hair?" she asked.

Harry blinked at her slowly several times. "Nymphadora, are you colourblind? I mean, I am sitting right in front of you and even if you were colourblind you should be able to tell what colour my hair is," he finished confusedly.

"But, what if you're a metamorph, and you were just pretending to have black hair?" she pouted.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Being a metamorph is an incredibly rare gift, there's more chance of you being a metamorph then me."

"I know," she said smugly, "I mean, I am a metamorph after all."

"You're shitting me," he said in disbelief. Suddenly realising what had just come out of his mouth he clamped a hand over his mouth and blushed profusely.

"Harry! Language," she said with teasing smirk.

"Sorry," he muttered. "But, I mean… were you telling the truth?"

Instead of saying anything she grinned and changed her hair to thick black dreadlocks, her skin to a dark caramel colour and her eyes to a startling blue. Grinning at the shocked look on his she changed back and waited for his brain to restart.

"Amazing… so amazing…" he muttered before he seemed to wake up from his mental shutdown. "That really so is fascinating, does it hurt to transform? How powerful of a metamorph are you, as in how much are you capable of transforming? Can you turn into an animal? Does it improve your transfiguration skill? Can you-"

"Slow down Harry, you don't to look too much like a nerd," she said.

A blush suffused his cheeks and she briefly wondered if he had performed a transfiguration spell to turn into a tomato before she remembered that they couldn't preform magic underage out of school.

"Wow…" she muttered in awe.

"What?"

"I didn't know someone could go that red," she teased.

"Sh-shut up!" he managed to chock out.

She just giggled infuriatingly.

"So, are you going to answer me?" he asked with a pout.

"Sure, sure. Well, to start off there's isn't much recorded about metamorphs because of their rarity. But, from what I've managed to learn I am pretty powerful because I can change not only the colour of my body parts, but also the shape to a large degree. I can't, however, turn into an animal. Only an animagus can do that-"

"What's an animagus?" Harry interrupted.

"A person who is highly trained in the art of transfiguration can take a potion so that they can change into an animal. I don't know much more then that. I am only a third year and that section is only really covered in seventh year. Even then, it isn't taught."

"So cool. I have got to learn that one day. Anyway, carry on."

She raised an eyebrow, but continued on with the end of her explanation, "Yes, well you could've waited for a few seconds more before asking about that, I only have one more thing to tell you."

"Sorry."

"Yeah, its cool. Anyway, unfortunately for me being a metamorph does not in fact help with my transfiguration skill."

There was a bit of an awkward silence for a moment before Harry got the conversation back up an running. "Are you sure you come up here to find out about me?" he asked with a raised brow. "I mean so far I've managed to find out more about youYou still haven't found out anything about me, other then the fact that I am not a metamorph."

"Okay, okay," she said, pushing back her laughter, "so how old were you when you arrived at the orphanage?"

"I'm not sure exactly. It's not a time I care to remember, but I was three, I think or four even," he stated

"So, you were there for quite a long time…" she paused and seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing on, "was it as bad there as people often make it out to be?"

He glanced away for a moment before looking back with a small sad smile on his face, "No… it wasn't that bad. I had a roof over may head, three meals a day and the beginnings of a standard muggle eduction when I was there. So, no, it wasn't that bad and I'm grateful for what I had. After all, I'm sure that there are orphanages where people had it worse then me." He chose not to mention that the brief stint of time with his Aunt and Uncle before the orphanage was worse then the orphanage was worse by far. He still wasn't fond of small dark places.

"Oh…" she trailed off, unsure exactly how to continue from there. "So, uh… do you like quidditch?" she asked weakly.

He tilted his head to the side like a cat and looked so cute she had to resist the urge to squeeze him, "I've never hear of it. Is it some sort of wizarding food?"

She felt her mouth falling open as she just stared at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a concerned frown.

"Merlin!" she finally cried just when he was worried she was frozen, "I can't believe it, I just can't believe it…" she muttered to herself.

Suddenly she lunged forward, grabbed hold of him, and dragged him bodily from the room. "You haven't lived Harry."

Harry stared at the broom in his hands then looked at Tonks who was flying around in the sky then looked back up at the broom. _No way, _he thought, _this is insane, how do people do this all the time. It's just crazy._

"Come on Harry!" Tonks called from the sky, "muggles can't see us, there's a muggle repelling ward on the house, so don't worry about it!"

_Yeah, 'cause that's what I'm worried about, _he thought petulantly, but chose to stay silent for the sake of his health. He was still worried Tonks might kick him groin again, after all their agreement only covered the use of her name. Sighing despondently he clambered onto the broom. But, his legs refused to push up. They, at least had common sense. He really wasn't sure he should trust the flimsy stick in his hands to hold him up.

Another shout from Tonks broke him from his revere. "What's the matter Harry? You scared!"

He knew he was being goaded and on any other occasion he would have ignored such a thing, but this was different. This time it was closer to the truth then he cared to admit. So, taking a deep breath he launched himself of the ground. At first he gripped the handle tightly in terror, but as the seconds passed and he didn't crash to the floor in messy oblivion he started to relax and take in the situation.

The first thing he did was look down and was surprised that he didn't feel a sense of vertigo as he looked at the floor below. Instead he felt a rush of adrenaline flood through his system and a feeling of euphoria build up inside. Unable to hold it in any longer he smiled and laughed in delight before spinning his broom around and racing off into the sky. Shouting in delight. He was going to like quidditch.

**Author's Note: **Just so you know there will be a time skip from this chapter to the next one because I usually find it boring myself when I have to read to much pre-Hogwarts stuff. Hoped you liked the Tonks/Harry interaction. Just to make you aware there are four years between them at the moment. So, Tonks is in her third year at Hogwarts. When Harry starts his first year she will be a fifth year and when Neville starts his first year she will be in her last. I'm not sure if this is exactly correct, but it is what I decided on after much deliberation. I was originally going to make it five years, but decided on a four year age difference. Let me know what you think. Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **You know the story. I don't own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does. It sucks for me, but life goes on. I also don't own McGonagall's introduction speech or the Sorting Hat's Song.

**Author's Note:** So I've done a bit of a time skip going into this chapter. Pre-Hogwarts is just never as interesting. Also, incase any ginger or orange haired people took offence to the first chapter I would just like to let you know that I have nothing against you personally it's just something that I thought would be a funny quirk for Harry to to have. Next up Diagon Alley and perhaps a trip on the Hogwarts train. Also for anyone confused this is a Harry/Tonks story, as in they will end up in a relationship. They might date other people first, especially Tonks because she is quite a but older then him, but they will end up together. Also sorry about the Samhain and Yuletide mix up. I'd looked it up, but read them the wrong way around, so sorry. I did think it was a bit strange even when I wrote it. Anyway, on with the story.

A part of Harry's first meeting with Olivander will be taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone. Also, I want to find a way around the regulations placed on Ollivander by the Ministry in regards to his limited materials without having to send Harry wondering off into Knockturn Alley to receive some personally crafted wand. I think I came up with a good idea. The idea that he can only use dragon heat-string, phoenix feathers and unicorn hairs just doesn't leave much to the imagination. However, I will be sticking to one wood and one core per wand. Even the elder wand only contained one core and one wood.

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'Fishing' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts

**Chapter 3:**

It was not his first trip to Diagon Alley, not by a long shot, but this was the busiest he'd ever seen it by far. Getting bumped and jostled around due to his younger age and therefore smaller size was not something he considered fun. In fact he considered it close to torture. Someone particularly large bumped into him and sent him tumbling to the floor. Shaking his head to get rid of the disorientation he clambered to his feet cursing under his breath. Yes… this particular trip to Diagon Alley was definitely not what he would ever put on his list of fun.

Suddenly he saw a hand pop out of nowhere latch itself onto the front of his black shirt and haul him off to the side of the bustling street. As he stumbled along behind the dragging hand he found himself head butting far to many people's bodies for his comfort. So, he was eternally grateful when the hand eventually let go and he managed to steady himself after the violent pull. Dusting himself off slightly he looked up into the face of the perpetrator, one frowning Nymphadora Tonks.

The young girl smacked on the back of the head and he wondered what terrible sin he had committed now. His dislike towards the crowded streets and loud noises had him in a bad mood and he really didn't feel like getting in trouble right now. Crowded places always put him in foul mood.

"What?" he asked in aggravation.

Tonks raised an eyebrow at his petulant attitude, but decided to ignore it for both their sakes, "Mom and Dad are waiting for us at the entrance to Ollivander's, you somehow managed to get lost between Madam Malkin's and Gringotts." She sighed and shook her head in exasperation, "Anyway, come on then, only this stop to get your wand, a brief trip into Knockturn Alley and then we finally get to go home."

Harry felt a brief flash of happiness at the thought that he would very soon have his own wand and that it wouldn't be much longer before they could leave. Of course it was a very brief flash followed then by the knowledge that he would have to go back into the masses of people to get there. He felt the ridiculous urge to burst into tears at the unfairness of it all. _It's just not fair, _he moaned in silence.

Suddenly that hand was back on the front of his shirt. He gulped closed his eyes and prayed he made it out alive.

And indeed he did, make it out alive that is, but it wasn't unscathed… he still felt as if his eyes were rolling round in his head and found it extremely hard to focus on anything. Wondering how many bruises littered his body he looked at Tonks and wondered how she had made it of there without looking like she had been on the losing end of a fight with an army of inferi. Especially considering her usual clumsiness. Shrugging it off he looked up at the sign _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._

For a moment he thought that the actual owner of the shop was that old. His eyes bulged out of his head in shock before he realised that the 'Ollivanders' part of the name must be referring to a family rather then one person. Letting his face return to its normally more relaxed position he turned to greet Andromeda and Ted who seemed to be taking in his messed appearance with amusement.

"What?" he asked in a rather flustered tone.

"Nothing Harry, nothing at all. You look absolutely darling. As neat and handsome as I've ever seen you," said Andromeda in a teasing tone.

With blushing cheeks Harry quickly attempted to rearrange his appearance into something more acceptable. But, he was guessing he'd failed, as he usually did. The hair just seemed to ruin everything no matter how neat he tried to look. Even his earlier attempts with gel had failed to tame the beast that lived on his head. Giving them his version of 'the glare', which he assumed fell short judging by the laughter and giggles that followed his attempt at intimidation, he pushed open the door to Ollivander's and marched inside.

The tinkling of a bell overhead announced his arrival. Pausing for a moment to let his eyesight adjust to the dimly light shop he almost coughed briefly on the dust motes floating around and wondered if this Olivander man had used some sort of spell to keep his shop like that all the time. Shrugging it off he continued his walk into the shop wondering where Mr. Olivander was.

His searching was interrupted by sound of a soft voice that seemed to drift out of the gloom, "Good afternoon."

It cost him all his will power not to jump in surprise at the voice and he felt a small sense of satisfaction at his lack of reaction, he was sure that the devious wand maker had done this same trick to many customers before him. "Hello," he replied.

When Harry finally managed to get his first look at the mysterious wand maker he wondered if his first assessment of Ollivander really being that old was correct and it wasn't a family name. The old man's creepy voice broke him from his thoughts. "I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Harry Potter. You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice for charm work…" he trailed off and looked into Harry's eyes in a way that Harry found unbelievably creepy. Harry felt a strange pressure in his head and looked away wondering if he had a headache coming on.

Continuing on as if he hadn't just stared at Harry in a strange way, "Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Harry wondered how on earth Ollivander had managed to remember all of that from so long ago. Looking back at the rest of Tonks family he wondered what they thought of the entire situation. But, they just looked on in amusement clearly having expected this to happen. He resisted the urge to pout childishly, he was trying to outgrow that habit, but still. He wondered if he existed only for their amusement.

Sighing he turned back Ollivander who was staring at him int that creepy way again which gave him a small headache. He considered turning tail and running to a different wand making shop, he was sure that one must exist somewhere.

Suddenly a tape measure appeared out of nowhere and began to measure different parts of his body.

"Now Mr. Potter, which is your wand arm?" he asked.

"Well, I can use both on a fairly equal level though I do favour my left," he replied as he watched the tape measure float around in absolute fascination.

"Hmm… your father did too," he said as he disappeared into the giant stacks of wands piled into the shelves. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of magical substance, Mr Potter. We use a number of magical creatures to procure our cores. Not two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two magical creatures are the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Suddenly noticing the large pile of boxes on the front desk Harry wondered when they'd all been put there.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled to the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Yew and dragon heartstring, fourteen inches, unyielding. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand, and feeling far too much like an idiot for his own liking, waved the wand around without reciting any of the spells he'd been practicing. Mr. Ollivander made a move to snatch it back, but before he made it Harry found that he'd set the ceiling on fire. Quickly Mr. Ollivander took the wand from his hands and the fire went out at once. Harry found that strange, but decided not to question it.

"Your magic seems excited to get out Mr. Potter. That doesn't usually happen when I'm attempting to find a wand for a first year student," he explained.

Harry nodded his head in agreement. That would be irritating. Having to fix hundreds of repairs every summer made by first year students.

"Now then, they this one. Monterillo, a rarely used wood and phoenix tail feather. Thirteen and three quarter inches, reasonably springy. Try-" this time the wand was taken from before he'd even moved. He was rather disappointed, he wanted to see if he could set something else on fire.

"No, no - here, oak and dragon heartstring, fourteen and a quarter inches. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried, and tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried and failed wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. But, Harry was not getting any happier. He expected to be out of here by now. All this waiting around was driving him insane, it made him wonder if Mr. Ollivander was insane. The man looked like he was going to wet his pants with excitement.

It was only when the last wand from the table in front of him disappeared that Ollivander seemed to frown.

"Well… that doesn't happen often," he said with a slight frown. "I suppose we can go look at some of my father's creations that weren't sold. There aren't many left, but perhaps we can find a match for you there."

Nodding his head Harry followed the man, but paused and looked behind him to see if the rest of his party were going to follow, only to nearly tear up with laughter at the sight before him. Sitting on the only two waiting chairs passed out fast asleep he saw Andromeda leaning back with he eyes closed and slow deep breaths passing from her slightly parted lips. Next to her with his head resting on her lap slept Ted with drool slipping out the corner of his mouth and onto Andromeda's favourite skirt. Finally lying on the dusty floor Nymphadora, positioned like she was lying in a coffin, flowers in her hands, waiting to be buried six feet under.

He had no idea he'd taken that long. But, Merlin he found it hilarious.

Spinning back around and wiping tears from the corners of his eyes he followed Mr. Ollivander deeper into the dim shop. Coming to the end of the shelved passage way of followed Ollivander into a slightly more lit room where he moved towards a stack of about twenty wands in the corner on an old desk.

Removing about ten wands from the pile that Ollivander was quite sure would not fit the young man before him. He then pulled the other wands from their boxes and placed them in on the table in the centre of the room. He then smiled at the young Potter lingering at the entrance to the room. "Come on then, Mr. Potter. This are several of my father's creations before some of ministry restrictions were placed on the wand core materials we wand makers in Britain are allowed to use."

"Isn't it illegal then, for me to use one of the wands?" Harry asked, slightly worried he might be arrested for using such a wand.

"No, the laws were made to limit the materials that we could use in wands, however their are no laws that say you cannot use such wands, only that you cannot make them. A loophole perhaps, but it is true," he explained.

"Oh, but what about those other wands you put away? Don't I need to try those?"

"That is not necessary. Just like I do not make you try every wand in the shop, I do not need to make you try every wand here. I am certain, from my observations, that those wands would not suit you or your magic," he explained again.

Harry raised a brow. He was being a lot more forthcoming then Harry expected, but he wasn't complain about getting more straightforward answers. But, he still thought the old man was really creepy and the little headache he got every time he stared at him to long was really irritating.

Then they began searching for a wand that would suit him. At first he thought it was going to be a repeat of earlier, but when they got to the second to last wand he gasped. It felt as if fire and ice were shooting through his system simultaneously burning straight from the finger tips of his left hand and through his body. His eyes felt like they were going to roll into the back of his head as he felt his magic establish a connection with the wand and the room seemed to flicker between hot and cold.

As suddenly as it began it ended and he panted for air a clasped the wand tightly in his hands.

"One of the best matches I have seen in a long time Mr. Potter," he said with a smile, that seemed slightly less creepy then it did before.

"What?" Harry gasped out between gulps of air.

"Not all people find a wand that is ever as suited to them as that wand is to you Mr. Potter. For while it is the wand that choses the wizard there are cases where the matching is simply better then others. Yew and thestral heartstring, from a dead thestral of course. Fourteen and a half inches, unyielding. A very powerful wand, for a powerful wizard, strong for most magics… a wand for a wizard who walks the line," he looked down at Harry with concern. "Do, you understand, Harry?"

Gulping slowly, Harry nodded.

"Good, good…" he paused for a moment and then his temperament seemed to take a one eighty. "Splendid then, absolutely splendid. Now then, shall we be getting back to our sleeping crowd."

He indicated for Harry to leave first, and still in a slight daze Harry wondered out the room wand still clasped tightly in his hand. Reaching the front desk he waited for Ollivander to get back, so he could pay. When he heard the sound of footsteps he seemed to wake from his daze as he gazed down at the long wand in his hand and wondered whether or not he really was happy that the wand had chosen him. It was a powerful wand. Mr. Ollivander had said so himself, still… what'd said at the end had disturbed him slightly.

Shaking it off as best he could, deciding to think about later he looked up as Mr. Ollivander entered the front area again gazing on him with those piercing creepy eyes. Stupid headache.

"That'll be thirteen galleons Mr. Potter. More then I charge for most, but there were rare materials used in that wand."

"Thank you uh-Mr. Ollivander. Can I have some sort of wand holster to hold it. I've seen some of the Aurors use them and they look useful," he explained.

Mr. Ollivander nodded and reached under the counter to pull one out. "This Mr. Potter is a wrist holster. That'll be fourteen galleons three sickles total."

Reaching into his pocket for the money Andromeda had given him earlier he counted it out before placing it on the counter. Ollivander looked at the money and looked back at Harry. Harry waited for him to count out the money to make sure he'd given him the correct amount. He waited… and waited… and waited… he thought that Mr. Ollivander had gone into a daze while he stared at Harry in a way that made him want to run screaming 'PEDOPHILE!' He refrained of course, with all his strength.

Eventually Ollivander frowned at him, "Well what are you waiting for? Go on, get out!"

His loud voice seemed to rouse Ted from his sleep and with a yelp of surprise he promptly fell off his seat and crashed to the floor beneath him. Unfortunately the floor was not as much a floor as he believed. It was slightly softer then he thought it'd be and seemed to moving around a bit. Pushing himself up slightly he was greeted by a screech from Nymphadora and knee the groin that sent him straight back onto her.

During this Andromeda seemed to have woken up and started laughing at them hysterically, until she caught sight of her drool covered skirt. An inhuman growl seemed to build in the back of her throat that caused everyone in the room to freeze. She glared at her husband with such rage Harry was surprised the man didn't catch fire.

"Your DEAD!" she cried as she lept up, grabbed the back of Ted's jacket and hauled him off Nymphadora. Harry marvelled at her sudden super powered strength.

Finally freed from her suffocating prison Nymphadora gasped for air frantically. Glancing to her left and seeing the fight her parents were in she promptly hopped up, gabbed Harry's wrist and dragged him running from the shop. "Thank you, Mr Ollivander!" she called over her shoulder as they fled.

Speaking only to Harry she whisper yelled, "We can visit Knockturn another day. No way, do you want to go near mom when she's like that!"

"That's happened before?" Harry asked.

"Only once," she shuddered, "never again."

"Oh Harry!" she cried squeezing him half to death. He wondered if he was dying and if being smothered into his mother figure's breasts was really the way he wanted to go. It would certainly be a strange way. He doubted their were many people who could claim the same.

Just when he was about to give up on all hope of survival he was released from her crushing embrace. Unfortunately the lack of oxygen left his legs like jelly and he collapsed to the floor in an ungainly heap. He was quickly hauled back to his feet by a hysterical Andromeda. "Don't believe anything a girl says Harry! They just want in your pants, save yourself for Nym!"

"Uh… aren't I a bit young for that? And… isn't that what your supposed to tell girls about boys? I'm sure I'm right…" he said with a cute frown.

"Yeah mum, Harry's right and… and… and… what did you just say about him saving himself for me?" Tonks cried out in absolute horror.

Harry looked down at himself with a frown. He wasn't that horrific was he. Tall, skinny, prepubescent - yeah, that didn't sound like something you'd advertise if you were ever trying to get a date. He hoped it was temporary. Being all arms and legs was not cool.

"He needs someone to save himself for! To be virginal for! Otherwise who knows what might happen," she cried in despair for Harry's future lose of innocence.

"Mum, you're insane," sighed Tonks. "He's just starting his first year at Hogwarts, not being thrown into a crowd of desperate veela."

"I know, I know. It's just so hard," she said wiping away her tears.

Harry sighed and looked at the far more composed Ted. He held out his hand for a shake, but instead got hauled into another bone crushing hug. He wondered if his skeletal structure would ever be the same again. After he was released, this time before he was oxygen deprived, Ted gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about what she says Harry, you'll be breaking hearts in no time," he said gruffly. "Now, off with you."

"Sure, sure. Bye Andromeda, bye Ted, see you at Yuletide or Christmas for Ted. Anyway bye," he said with a grin.

He heard Nymphadora jogging to catch up to him. "Take care of him Nym!" he heard Andromeda shout from behind them.

When they got to the train Tonks helped him find an empty compartment before leaving him by himself to go to the prefects' carriage. Andromeda and Ted had been extremely proud when she'd been made a prefect for Hufflepuff. Still, it made him a bit nervous to be sitting here by himself. It wasn't something he was entirely used to after being around her for most of the summer holidays.

With a sigh he decided to read through one of the newer transfiguration books that he'd managed to procure on their return trip to Knockturn Alley. It was a journal type book that dealt with the transfiguration discoveries of an old transfiguration master in the seventeen hundreds. The journal hadn't actually mentioned his name and Harry wondered if he'd done it on purpose to remain anonymous. After all, not all of what was written would be considered appropriate by the current Ministry, which was why it had been in Borgin and Burkes in the first place.

He was worried that because he was so stressed about being a new student at Hogwarts that he wouldn't be able to concentrate. He was extremely grateful that this was not the case as he lost himself in the pages of the book. Just as he was getting to the good part the compartment door burst open. Shocked at the sudden loud entrance his book went flying. Hopping up quickly he managed to catch and turned to face his intruders.

The first boy to enter the cabin seemed to be slightly shorter then himself with dark hair, grey eyes and what he assumed many girls would call handsome features. He had a slightly panicked look on his face, and the reason for this seemed to become clear when two identical blurs tackled him from behind and sent them all careening into the cabin in a tumbled heap.

Harry was grateful for fast reflexes when he managed to hop up onto the compartment seats and avoid becoming part of the mess of human limbs on the floor.

Clearing his throat made them aware of his presence and the identical blurs quickly hopped of the dark haired boy lying on the floor. Now that he get a closer look at them he could get a better look at them. The first thing he noticed was their hair. It was stuck somewhere between red and orange on the spectrum, but after a moment of observation he decided that it was red enough not to freak him out. They were built on the stocky side with pale skin and a dusting of freckles on the bridge of their noses. Both seemed to have the same mischievous glint in their brown eyes.

The other lump on the floor managed to haul himself to his feet just as Harry hopped down from the carriage seats and onto the floor. The dark haired boy lent against the red head, until he seemed to realise who he was leaning against then he jumped away quickly and sat down in the corner on the same seat Harry was sitting on.

"What's up with you guys?" he asked at last as he plopped himself back into his seat and the twins did the same on the opposite side.

"I'm Fred-"

"-and I'm George Weasley."

"And I'm Cedric Diggory," said a quieter voice from his left.

"That still doesn't explain what you were doing," he pointed out.

"Well me and George here were trying to set up a prank on some third years-"

"-but when we were in the middle of it this guy here-"

"-had to come and make an attempt at stopping us-"

"-when we said we wouldn't stop it-"

"-he went and told the third years what we were planning-"

"-so we chased him to extract revenge-"

"-and ended up landing in your compartment." They explained in a way that made Harry's head spin with all the back and forth turning his head had to do. He wondered if it was a technique they'd developed to confuse their mum. Heaving a sigh he turned to the other boy in the compartment.

"Is what they said true?" he asked.

"Yes… but it really was mean prank," he pointed out.

"Look," he started, "I don't really care what happened between you guys, I really don't. But, since you barged in and interrupted my reading time. I'm going to lock you all in here and let you settle you differences or whatever. Got it."

"Hey that's no fair!" pointed out the one twin.

"Yeah, there's no way we're staying in here," said the other.

"I don't care," he replied and cast a locking charm that no first or second year would be able to break. "You're going to stay and sort out your problems."

He relaxed in his seat, pulled out his book and sat back to read. That whole conversation had made him feel like a scolding parent and it was not something he really wanted to repeat.

There was biting, there was scratching, there was blood and there was tears, but by the time they'd climbed into the boats heading towards Hogwarts they'd managed to sort out their differences. The twins wouldn't do any pranks that would cause actual physical pain and Cedric wouldn't report them. It was a compromise and Harry felt a weird sense of pride that they'd managed to come to an agreement.

He, like all the other students, had gasped in amazement as they took in their first look at Hogwarts in all her splendour. But, he was quite proud that he'd managed to stop himself from shouting in surprise when a giant tentacle had brushed up against his hand. Apparently the large tentacle belonged to an even larger beast called the giant squid, or so the large gamekeeper had told them. Somehow that didn't make him feel any better. In fact it made him worry about exactly would happen if their small boat happened capsized.

When they entered a large cavern and he saw the docking area he was grateful that he wouldn't have to share a small boat fro much longer with two twins who were liable to cause it to capsize at any moment. They'd probably find it hilarious. He would not.

They were all ushered as a small group to a small entrance room. Hagrid walked up to the large door and knocked three times.

The door swung open immediately. A tall, black- haired witch in emerald- green robes stood there. She had a very stern face, it gave Harry the urge to confess to acts he'd never committed and plead guilty with his whole heart. Shaking off the feeling he focused back on what was happening up front.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here."

She pulled the large door wide open and Harry got his first glimpse of Entrance hall. It was large with stone walls lit by the flaming torches that hung on the walls. The ceiling was actually too high to make out. The large group of first years followed Professor McGonagall into a small empty chamber off the hall. Crowding in they all stood closer together then they normally would, but it seemed that nerves were affecting all of them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered briefly on the messier students and gave Harry's untameable hair a brief glare.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber and Harry finally released the breath he didn't realise he'd started holding when she'd glared at his hair.

He heard various students begin discussing how they might be sorted. Most of them agreed that it was some sort of test, whether it be mental or physical, that they would have to do. Harry had no idea what it was either, he'd begged Andromeda, Ted and Nymphadora all summer, but they'd told him it was to be kept a secret from everyone. It wasn't even written in _Hogwarts, a History._ He'd read through it three times in his panic just to check.

His musing was interrupted by several gasps. Looking up he noticed the arrival of several ghosts. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each over and hardly glancing at the first-years. They seemed to be arguing with each other, but Harry was on the other side of the room and to far away to here exactly what it was about.

"New Students!" he heard the Fat Friar exclaim from his spot, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted I suppose?"

A few of the nearer students managed to nod.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

Harry wondered if they'd rehersedd this whole thing to get students into their houses. Surely they knew that the first years would be waiting here today. He shrugged it off, it didn't really matter. But, he did laugh along with most of the other students when Fred and George started putting the their hands in and out of the closest ghosts.

"This is so cool," they both said. For once, he agreed, he would definitely have to try it at some point.

"Enough," said a sharp voice, "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away though the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me."

Getting into line behind Cedric and he took deep calming breaths trying desperately to calm his racing heart. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It was beautiful. If Harry was a little less terrified he might have appreciated it, instead all he could do was take in the details automatically. It was lit by thousands of candles floating in mid-air over four long tables, that he assumed were for the different houses. The ceiling was a velvet black, dotted with stars. It was even more beautiful as _Hogwarts, a History _described. Truly the enchantments used to were fantastic. Even in his dazed state he could appreciate that.

Students sat the tables with beautiful golden cutlery. At the top of Hall was another long table where more glittering golden plates and goblets laid. They were all led up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Then they had to face the staring eyes of the student body. Harry decided that this was a god time to find his shoes extremely fascinating.

Harry looked up when the Hall seemed to fall silent and focus on old, patched, frayed and extremely dirty pointed wizard's hat that Professor McGonagall had placed on a four-legged stool only seconds ago.

Then the hat twitched and he wondered if it was going to transform into a giant monster that they would have to defeat. But, that did seem highly illogical. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and he reconsidered his previous assessment. Then… the hat began to sing. He wondered if he had gone insane from the all the pressure and was hallucinating.

_Oh,you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your tops hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat._

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you _

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell brave of heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong inHufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And you won't get in a flap!_

_You're safe in my hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap! _

The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables as Harry stared on in absolute shock. Before he could stop himself his mouth acted independent of his thoughts.

"A HAT! YOU'RE LEAVING OUR FATE UP TO A HAT! ARE YOU INSANE!" He shouted. Suddenly releasing what he had just said he clamped a hand over his mouth. The entire Hall froze and turned to look at him before Tonks started laughing.

"Oh, oh, Harry," she said between bouts of laughter, "I can't take you anywhere."

Suddenly most of the hall began laughing and Harry blushed ten shades of red. He thought he was going to pass out.

When the laughter had finally calmed down Professor McGonagall turned to face Harry with an amused, but admonishing look on her face, "Yes, Mr. Potter, we are leaving your fate up to a hat and no... we're not crazy."

If he wasn't still as red as he could go he would have blushed again, instead he just mumbled, "Sorry Professor".

Facing the front of the Hall again Professor McGonagall called out the first name on her list.

The sorting had begun.

**Author's Note: **For those of you who've read the Harry Potter books recently you may be away of the fact that some of that was taken from the first book. In fact I used the cannon Harry's Sorting Hat Song. I just couldn't think of my own one to write. Anyway, that was a really quick update and I doubt I'll ever update that quick ever again. But, writing fanfic is a great way to procrastinate doing projects. So, I was on a roll.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't Harry Potter or anything about it… sigh… but it would really like it if I did. Awesome.

**Author's Note: **A reviewer pointed out to me that I didn't put in something to differentiate between the two parts, but I swear I did! I'm Sorry! It just didn't show up and it irritates the fuck out of me. I think I actually divided it into four separate parts, and now you my little readers will never know. It sucks… like really sucks big time. So I will have to find a way to fix this. Could take a few more test runs but I will find away. Also, if some people find my spelling weird its because I use the British spelling system, not the American one.

For those people who want me to focus more on Harry learning "Healing" things in both a mundane and magical way I would like to let you know that it will happen. However, there will be some trouble along the way for Harry. Also, despite the fact that he is very intelligent he is also only eleven. So, for now I want to focus more on his base for magical training.

I would like to say that some of the characters that are going to be used the next chapters are going to be fictional. As in they don't actually exist in the real Harry Potter universe. I tired looking up some of the characters, but their isn't much to go on. However, I will do my best to make it as authentic as possible.

And yes, the last chapter was a little rushed. But, I was feeling rushed so I suppose it reflects my mood.

Anyway, enough about me… onward we go!

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'**_**Fishing**_**' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts

(Changed it up a bit because it wasn't coming out right)

**Chapter 4:**

The Hat was lowered onto his head and dropped down to cover his eyes so that the Great Hall was no longer visible. He wondered if he was just going to sit here until the Hat decided which house he best suited to and if so how long it was going to take. He was hungry. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a voice speaking in his head.

"Hmm…" hummed a thoughtful voice from inside his head. Resisting the urge to yelp in surprise Harry realised that the voice must be the Sorting Hat talking to him. It made him feel marginally better that at least the Hat was a sentient being and not a programmed roulette wheel that randomly called house names. "So, you're the little maggot that felt I couldn't do a decent sorting did you?"

Harry gulped, but nodded.

"I hope you learned your lesson Potter."

He nodded again. Who knew what the Hat could do to his mind.

"Fine then, lets get this sorting done with."

Harry nodded.

"Well, you do have an interesting mind Potter. Intelligent to a frightening degree, to a point that not even your mother could claim and she wasn't called the brightest witch her age for nothing," whispered the little voice.

A brief memory flashed through his mind of his mother lying on her hospital bed. Her red hair fanned out around her beautiful face like a fiery halo. Skin pale from the lack of sun exposure over the last years. She was like a broken angel. A beautiful, broken angel. He clenched his fist tightly as he realised the Hat had brought up that memory on purpose. Anger flooded his system and he hissed out loud like an angry cat.

"Touchy, touchy Potter. So, you want to save her do you, a great ambition, though perhaps not enough to earn you a place in the house of Slytherin. Yet, it is something to consider. What else? Ah yes, loyal to those who earn your trust, though your trust is not given easily. Something dear Helga wouldn't be to happy about, although she would approve of your work ethic. Bravery, courage… hmm. Yes, you have those to don't you, though perhaps you aren't to willing to jump into fight. Now, where to put you, little maggot?" questioned the Hat as it finished off its assessment.

"Wherever you think will best help me save her," he growled in his mind. "And I'm not a maggot," he tagged on as an afterthought.

"Still feeling angry, are we? Tut, tut, that does no good."

Harry growled.

"Oh dear Potter, you still have so much to learn," the Hat seemed to sigh, "well are you sure about your decision?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps Slytherin then?"

"If you think it best."

"No, no… just wanted to see what you thought of being in the house of snakes," the Hat teased.

Harry wondered how much longer this was going to take. To entertain himself he had a brief fantasy about setting the Hat on fire and dancing on its ashes. What fun.

"Well then, I suppose it better be 'RAVENCLAW!'" The Hat said ending off their discussion by shouting out his house. Harry made to pull the Hat off, but before he got it off all the way he heard the Hat speak to him one last time, "Do come and visit, Potter, it gets awfully lonely all by myself."

Feeling slightly disgruntled Harry yanked it off, placed it back on the stool and walked off to his applauding table which stood second from the left. Their had already been several first year students sorted into Ravenclaw and he sat next to one of them. The boy appeared shorter then him, from what Harry could tell from his sitting position. With dark hair, dark eyes and fairly pale skin.

He offered Harry his hand, "Roger Davies."

"Harry Potter," he replied after moments hesitation, shaking the proffered had.

With introductions finished they both turned back to the sorting. They were joined by three more Ravenclaw students, all of them girls. He wondered if the boy to girl ratio in their Ravenclaw year said anything about the intelligence of the boys in general. One of the girls took a seat next to Harry and introduced herself as Mindy Turpin. A pretty girl with bright blue eyes and blonde curly hair.

The sorting ended when first Fred Weasley, then George Weasley were sorted into Gryffindor and greeted by the rest of their table with a loud applause. Professor gave her house a slight smile, if you could call a twitch of the mouth a smile, before rolling up her scroll and taking the Sorting Hat away.

Harry wasn't really paying too much attention at the moment though, he was starving and staring at the empty golden plates, wishing for food, didn't seem to be helping. He hadn't gotten anything from the train, being to nervous to eat at the time, and he was paying for it now. He wondered if everyone around the hall could hear his stomach as it growled like a vicious jungle cat. He even felt a small blush crawling up his cheeks despite the fact that no one seemed to be able to hear it.

He focused his attention back on the head table when Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He beamed at all the students, and Harry wondered if he'd been taking lessons with Ollivander on how to freak him out. He opened his arms wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more at that moment then to be standing there and looking at a bunch of children and hormone driven teenagers. Harry found it highly suspect.

"Welcome!" he greeted them all. "Welcome all to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words that you should all think on. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank You!"

Finished with his greeting he took his seat back in his chair. All the older students clapped and cheered, but most of the younger students seemed slightly confused by his final words and weren't exactly sure what to do. Harry wondered if the man was insane… or perhaps he was just a genius. Then he considered the idea that he might be both, people often said their was a fine line between genius and insanity. Perhaps that's what Ollivander had been talking about when he had meant Harry would have to walk the line.

He shook his head. _Nah_, that didn't seem right.

Suddenly Harry froze and sniffed the air like a bloodhound as it searched for the scent of its prey. His stomach rumbled louder then before and he would have blushed again had he not been distracted by the heavenly scent.

Spinning quickly in his seat he faced the table and his eyes almost filled with tears at the glorious sight before him. Food. Oh it was beautiful, it was glorious, it was magnificent in all its glory. A small trail of drool beyond his control slipped from the corner of his mouth. A small giggle broke him from his various food fantasies. Turning towards the sound of the voice he faced an amused Mindy Turpin.

"Your drooling Harry," she said with a giggle.

"Am not," he insisted, quickly wiping away the evidence from the corner of his mouth and blushing slightly again.

"It's alright Harry, I find it absolutely adorable," she said.

Normally he would have shouted out that he was NOT adorable, but he'd found that it only increased their teasing. 'Their' being the female species in general. He found that upon catching sight of him with a blush on his face, and sometimes a blush wasn't even required, they'd begin spouting off words like cute, adorable, cuddly, sweetheart, and all kinds of names that were completely and utterly humiliating. He felt more like a teddybear then a boy. A ver pink, girly, unmanly teddybear.

But, just because he didn't shout out that he wasn't adorable, didn't mean he didn't mutter it under his breath, "I'm not a adorable."

Apparently this wasn't the best thing to do. Because this time she even gave him a hug and patted him on the head, in false sympathy. He growled and pouted, unable to break the habit.

"There, there Harry," she consoled, "its not that bad."

Before she turned back to the table and began to dish herself up some food. His grumbling stomach reminded him of the fact that he was starving and he turned back to the table that was covered in glorious food.

Unfortunately, he was once again interrupted by the sound of sniggering.

He expected its source to be from the boy, Roger Davies, sitting next to him, but he seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with the student next to him. From what he managed to overhear it seemed to be in regards to first years and quidditch tryouts. So, giving up on him being the source he continued searching. _Ah, ha! _he thought.

He discovered its source coming from a girl sitting across the table. Her straight black hair shook slightly as her body hunched over shaking as she tried to suppress her laughter. Her blue eyes, however, flickered to him occasionally. Giving away the subject of her mirth. He gave her a dark glare that was clearly unsuccessful, given the fact that it was the trigger to more laughter.

"What?" he asked in frustration.

"Nothing, nothing," she said.

"Come on, tell me," he whined.

"Well, I can't."

"And why not?"

"Well," she began, "its simply not polite to continue a conversation when I don't know your name, and you don't know mine."

Harry sighed in defeat, "Harry Potter, and yourself?"

"Katie Daniels," she introduced. Not recognising the name as any one of the pureblood families he'd read about in _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy _by _Gregory Johnson, _he assumed she was either a muggle-born or a half-blood, like himself.

"So, will you tell me now?" he begged.

"Fine… I find you absolutely adorable."

He began to slam his head repeatedly into the table next to his plate. He wondered if Tonks had found a way to communicate with all the first year girls on how to embarrass him. It seemed likely.

Finally finished with his head slamming he quickly dished himself up some food. He just couldn't handle this anymore. He was starving and sick and tired of girls calling him cute fuzzy things. It was not cool.

As soon as the food entered his mouth he groaned in delight.

It tasted so good.

Andromeda's tasted better, but they do say that hunger is the best flavouring or something like that. He couldn't really focus much on anything, but the food that tasted so good.

He heard giggles from both Katie Daniels and Mindy Turpin, but he didn't care. He decided he was over caring if girls giggled at him and called him adorable. He really was. Of course it might have been the food in his mouth that helped him with this resolution, but he had still decided not to care…

Now that the food was out of his mouth he realised that might be asking a bit too much. So, he decided that he would try to care less. Yes, that seemed like the better resolution.

He was just about to eat second helpings when the food he was reaching for disappeared. _Great Merlin NO! Not the food, take me instead! _ was his anguished mental cry. Unfortunately for him it seemed that once agin his mouth was beyond his control.

"NOOOOOOO!" he cried loudly. Once again silence prevailed in the Hall as everyone searched for the source of the loud shout, all eyes eventually landing on him.

And once again the students in the Hall started laughing.

He felt the red of a heavy blush creep up his neck and turn his entire face red.

His random outbursts were becoming incredibly embarrassing. He doubted he'd be more embarrassed if someone did a spell that stripped him naked in front of the entire student body. Even Professor McGonagall looked like she was holding back laughter.

This was going to get really old really fast if it continued.

Slumping down in his seat Harry tried desperately to disappear. Unsuccessfully of course.

Once the laughter had eventually died down, even if his blush had not, Harry looked at the table and realised there was a reason all the food had disappeared. There was desserts piled high where the food had once been.

Licking his lips he quickly took what he wanted and placed it on his plate. Devouring it while still obeying Andromeda's set rules on table manners. They were something he'd obey until the end of time. Being set in by a stinging hex to the backside every time he got it wrong. Andromeda said it was the same method her mother had used on her. A cruel sadistic woman, she'd called her, but her methods were successful. Harry could testify to that. So could Nymphadora, apparently.

A tap on the shoulder and a small smile from Mindy broke him from his thoughts, "You don't have to eat like your food's going to disappear Harry."

"Sorry, I didn't… put you off your food did I? Andromeda would kill me," he apologised.

"No, no, in fact your ability to eat food that fast with such neatness is quite amazing," she said.

He nodded, the picture of calm and serenity. Though there was a small part of him that was silently celebrating the fact that she hadn't called him cute throughout this conversation, nor had she giggled. He was grateful for small mercies.

"So, were you expecting to be in Ravenclaw?" he asked, deciding to continue their conversation.

"Yeah, I was guessing either here or Hufflepuff. My dad was in Ravenclaw and my mum was in Hufflepuff, and I've been told I behave similarly to both of them at my age so," she ended with a shrug. "What about you?"

"To be honest I was expecting Ravenclaw. I actually don't know any Ravenclaws personally, but I've been told that I'm the very epitome of what a Ravenclaw should be," he explained.

She laughed, "So you're a bookworm are you?"

"Yeah… but aren't you to?" he asked in confusion.

"Ravenclaw is the house of intelligence, creativity, wit, learning and wisdom. Although, people do just seem to classify us as bookworms. You don't have to have all the traits to be in the house. So, while I do like reading, I guess the Hat put me here more for my wit and wisdom," she said in an exaggerated bragging tone, flicking her hair over her shoulders and buffing her nails on her shirt.

"Oh sure, you seem very wise. Like an old hermit with a six foot long white beard and no hair on his head living in a broken shack on the mountainside," he joked.

She smacked his arm. "Now, now Potter. No need to be rude just because your jealous," she teased.

"Yes, it seems like a crippled rabbit your wit is boundless," he smirked.

She smacked his arm again.

And again.

And again.

And then just one more time for good measure.

"It seems I have left you speechless, only your physical capabilities left within your grasp," he teased through the beating.

He got another smack for his 'witty' response.

"Your marvellous capability with words makes me wonder if perhaps you are more Gryffindor then you care to admit."

Before she could get another smack in the pudding also disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent and waited for his words. Harry just wondered how awesome you had to be that people fell silent without you having to say a word. It was awesome. He wanted to be able to do that.

"Ahem - now that your all watered and fed I have just a few start-of-term notices to give you," he said. Harry wondered if he thought of the whole school as his giant greenhouse and all his little students as plants that had to be taken care of. It was an interesting idea. His thoughts were interrupted by the continuation of Professor Dumbledore's speech.

"First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all students," _Hence the name the Forbidden Forest… duh, _Harry thought, "and a few of our older students would do well to remember this fact. We don't want another… incident with the Acromantula, like we did lat year." Harry wondered who was dumb enough to mess with giant spiders.

When Dumbledore's eyes flickered to a group of seventh year Ravenclaws Harry was surprised. He would have suspected a group of Gryffindors to be responsible. Then again it wasn't out of the question that the Ravenclaws would be interested in studying them or their venom for Care of Magical Creatures or Potions. Learning above all else and all that.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, out caretaker, to remind you that no magic is to be used between classes in the corridors."

Harry wondered if this was a new rule or if it had only been introduced when Filch became caretaker. Harry had heard he was a squib, and it would make sense for Albus Dumbledore to ban the use of magic in the corridors because he would be unable to stop it.

"Finally for any students interested in playing, quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their houses should contact Madam Hooch." Harry had considered trying out, but had decided he would wait until second year when he was allowed a broom. He wondered if any other students considered trying out.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed several of the teacher's smiles flicker and fade before resuming in a rather fake manner. Several smiles never resumed at all. He wondered if it was really that bad

Dumbledore gave his wand a brief flick and a long golden ribbon swooped off the end of it flying high above the tables and twisting itself into snake-like words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald, Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling, With some interesting stuff, For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot, Just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot._

It really was that bad. Everyone finished the song at different times. Some speeding along and others dragging out the miserable thing like a torturous death march. He even heard a second year doing the song with what he was sure was the beat of a muggle rap song he'd heard not long ago.

The school clapped when everyone was finished, Dumbledore the loudest.

"Ah music," he said wiping his eyes, "such sweet music. A magic beyond all we do! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Most of the students seemed in a rush to leave, but the Ravenclaws waited for the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to leave before following them with most of the Slytherins. The first years and two fifth year prefects from Ravenclaw waited for most of the students to leave before the two Prefects introduced themselves.

The girl was fairly tall for her age with dark hair and dark eyes, clearly of Asian descent. She smiled at them, "Hello, my name is Mai Minagi."

She looked at her partner to continue, but he seemed be busy to glaring sullenly at the floor. She elbowed him sharply and he gave up glaring at the floor to glare at her instead. Seemingly oblivious to his death stare she indicated for him to introduce himself to the first years. Heaving out a sigh he turned to face them.

"I'm Michael Boot, if you have any problems talk to her not me," he muttered. "If you do talk to me I'll introduce you to some very interesting fifth year magic. Got it."

They nodded like a group of bouncing bobble-heads. Harry was sure that to an outsider it looked hilarious.

Mai glared at the boy then turned back and smiled at them, "Don't take him seriously, he's all bark and no bite."

Harry had his doubts.

"Anyway, follow us and we'll show you the route to the Ravenclaw common room," she said as turned about and lead them out of the Great Hall.

The first years followed her like a bunch of little lost puppies.

Harry was certainly feeling tired now. Eating dinner always made him feel lethargic. Tonks told him he was like kitten that way. He'd denied it adamantly, but she'd insisted. In fact she'd called him nothing, but kitten for close to a month. It was torture. Still, he was feeling tired now. If he waited about a half hour he would feel wide awake again. But, clearly there wasn't time for that

However, as the Ravenclaw prefects lead them through several winding corridors to the west side of the castle he did do his best to memorise where they were going. Normally this would be an easy task. He had a great memory, almost photographic, but when he was tired that all seemed to fall to the wayside.

He did however, notice all the portraits pointing and talking about them. Gossip most likely. It seemed the'd nothing better to do as he'd learned.

They seemed to be heading up several stories now. Until they were on the fifth floor. They then moved towards a tightly winding staircase that just seemed to go on and on and on. Harry had started counting the stairs, but when he'd gotten to two hundred he'd given up. This was exhausting. He was so focused on reaching the top that he almost didn't realise that they'd stopped and nearly walked straight into the back of another first year.

They were all facing towards a door that had neither a handle or a keyhole only a knocker in the shape of an eagle.

The prefects faced them and once again Mai took the lead, "Unlike the other houses the entrance to our house is not protected by a password, but rather you must answer a riddle that the door asks you. Unfortunately, this means that anyone who is intelligent enough or who the Hat considered Ravenclaw a possible house for could get in."

"Bloody stupid," muttered the male prefect.

"While my partner may not have chosen the best words to describe our situation he is correct. Many Ravenclaws have spoken to Professor Flitwick, our head of house, and Professor Dumbledore about getting it changed, but we have been unsuccessful. So, we urge you to keep the location of the tower a close secret."

Again with the bobble-head nodding. It really was amusing.

"Also, I must warn you, if you do get the answer wrong, you have to wait outside for another student to get it right," she explained.

_That sucks, _he thought. He wondered if half the students looked as upset as he felt at the thought of having to wait out there if they got it wrong.

Moving closer to the door Mai reached forward and knocked once against the door. At once the eagle came alive, but instead of a birds call, a soft musical voice asked, "What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?"

The prefects seemed to pause for a moment and think it over. Harry thought he'd come up with the right answer himself, but wasn't about to answer incase he was wrong.

"A river," said Mai.

"Well reasoned," the voice replied, and the door swung open.

The little Harry celebrated in his head it getting the right answer. Doing a dance that involved far to many hip thrusts for Harry's liking.

There were a few students lounging about, but it seemed that most of the students had gone to bed. It was a long day after all. Still, as Harry looked around the room he could not help, but appreciate its beauty. It was a large airy room with a high domed ceiling painted with stars that matched the midnight blue carpeting. The windows were high and arched beautifully in a way that punctuated that walls draped in blue and bronze silk.

Glancing out one of the windows he noticed they would have a great mountainside view. A good place for reading, he thought with a nod.

There were tables and chairs and bookcases. So… many… bookcases. Harry resisted the urge to run over and hug them in delight. Then he realised that if there were this many books here then… imagine how many books were in the Hogwarts library. A small bit of drool almost slipped out the corner of his mouth, be he wiped it away subconsciously, still lost in his fantasy.

His fantasies were interrupted by the Mai's voice. As she indicated for them to move towards the statue that stood beside a door. The statue was of a woman. She was beautiful and intimidating, carved of marble with a half smile on her face. A delicate tiara was place upon her head and from where he stood he could just make out the words _Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure. _For a brief second he wondered what a women's greatest treasure was.

Then he realised how daft his thoughts were. The crown was on a woman's head. So, she was obviously referring to man in general, as in human, as in the species, not the gender. _Daft, _he thought with a shake of his head. But, his thoughts never seemed to run smooth when he was sleepy.

Then he realised that Mai was talking and focused on her.

"While some of the other houses employ a joint dormitory method we feel that it is better that each student has their own bedroom. Exams can be a stressful time and most students prefer solitude to study."

Harry nodded. _That was true._

"Through this door and up the stairs here are both the boys and the girls rooms. The boys are on the left and the girls are on the right. Please head up, to locate your rooms. A name plate has been place on each of your doors and your belongings have already been placed in your rooms," she decided not to mention that the boys would be unable to enter the girls' side of the dorms. They would learn soon enough. Plus, it was hilarious to watch. She nodded to them then departed up the stairs herself while Michael Boot made his way towards the books.

Shrugging his shoulders Harry followed Mai up the stairs and headed off to locate his room.

They all seemed to be divided into separate corridors. The first years being placed placed closest to the entrance and the seventh years the furthest. He wondered if the teachers hoped placing the seventh years further away from the girls side would prevent them sneaking over.

He doubted it. A small giggle made it past his lips and he clamped his hand over his mouth, eyebrows raised. _What was that about? _he wondered.

Walking down the corridor he found his room located at the end. It sort of made sense. There were only three names called after his, and all of them had been girls so, he would have been the last boys name called out.

Pushing open his room he took in the small space given to him. There was a single bed on the left hand side of the room with a wardrobe fitted in-between the the wall and the end of his bed facing towards the opposite wall. On the right side of the room there was a desk and chair in the furthest corner with a great view out the window. He wondered if the other boys were lucky enough to get a great view.

Next to the desk was an empty bookcase, for his books he assumed, and next to that lay his trunk.

It wasn't a large room by any means, but it was his.

Heaving a sigh he decided to get his unpacking out of the way now, so that he wouldn't have to do it tomorrow.

He dug through his books and placed most of them on the shelves, sorting them first by subject then by author. He decided to leave the more questionable ones in his trunk incase anyone decided that they wanted to give his room an impromptu inspection. Some might call it paranoid, he called it… prepared… and paranoid, but mostly prepared.

Finished he pulled out his neatly folded clothes and placed them in his wardrobe depending on their use, this usually meant they were placed as muggle clothes, casual wizard's robes, formal wizard's robes, sleepwear and school clothes. His shoes and underwear were obviously sorted into their own categories. He knew he was neater then most. Tonks liked to complain about it all the time. Andromeda complimented him on it.

He just wished he could make the clothes he was wearing that neat too. Looking messy all the time was irritating.

He dug through his bag and pulled out the few odd bits and bobs he'd been given over the last two years and placed them on the desk.

Sighing tiredly, but still pleased that he'd gotten the job done he pulled off his clothes, folded them, and then placed them on top of his trunk for the house elves to clean in the morning. Finished with that he moved over to his cupboard pulled on a pair of sweatpants, deciding to forgo a shirt for now. He always got hot at night.

He pulled back the bronze and blue duvet and climbed into bed, arms resting under his head.

His thoughts seemed to drift back towards that beautiful woman lying in a hospital bed. He felt his breath hitch slightly in his throat. He choked slightly as he felt the urge to cry, as he usually did when he thought of her.

_Would you be proud of me mum? _he thought as he felt a small tear trickle out of the corner of his eye. He wiped it away quickly, still weary of crying even with no one to witness it.

"Would you be proud?" he whispered quietly as he closed his eyes.

He hoped so because when he found a way to wake her, he wanted her to look at him with nothing, but love and pride in her eyes.

He had to find a way.

He had to save her.

He would save her.

There was no other option.

**Author's Note: **And that, my friends, is the end of that chapter. Hoped you liked it. Got a bit sad at the end there, but you can't have expected to go through this story without that. I've been told that I must acknowledge Knowledge is Power by Fettucini as an influence to my work or their could be plagiarism problems and so I do. Let's face it, that story is awesome, unfortunately unfinished, but awesome. Gave me a great idea. However, it isn't the only influence, I've read a ton of Harry Potter fanfic and I'm sure some of your awesome stories have influenced me in one way or another. But, at the end of the day I'm trying to make this fic mine as much as possible.

Peace I'm out!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own you Harry Potter, but I wish I did. Just wait for me! One day… one day! Some of the lessons for this chapter and the next may use the occasional direct quotation e.g. Professor Snape's introduction.

**Author's Note: **Sorry that this update took a bit longer then my last one, but I had two projects due within the space of four days, so my life was a little full. Plus I have another three projects due this coming week. One on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Fuck my life. Procrastination is the devil! It will ruin your life. Don't ever give in to the call. You'll regret it. I still have another project due on Monday. It never ends.

Apparently people find this story funny, so I decided to change it from romance to humour. Make no mistake their will be romance. But, for now it seems the humour is more prevalent.

Someone called my Harry a wimp! You are so cruel. This is not the case. He only ever acts like that when girls are involved. I sort of think it has to do with his mother. Haven't really shown his interaction with other boys except for at the orphanage. So, I suppose it does seem like his personality had changed, but you need to let the story progress if you want to see all the sides of his character. It's only been five chapters now. Pus, when he was at the orphanage he was acting like he was constantly in enemy territory. So, of course he would seem a little more… hardcore. However, I will make attempts for you to see the side of his character that you saw in chapter 1.

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'**_**Fishing**_**' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts

**Chapter 5:**

Harry woke up to a smack in the face. Not that someone literally smacked him, more that he rolled off his bed and had a wonderful floor to face greeting that had him cursing under his breath. The morning was a cruel, cruel time of day that always seemed out to get him.

This wasn't the first time he'd woken up because of a face plant. He started counting when he was six, but after he reached one thousand he'd given up keeping track. It was just too depressing knowing that you'd smacked your head against the floor over a thousand times. Utterly depressing.

On the bright side it was a great alarm clock that normally went off around seven o'clock everyday. However, he rarely got the chance to sleep in. On the bright side he'd never had to by an alarm clock. _Screw the bright side,_ he thought. He smacked his head on the floor every morning. It didn't even bruise anymore because his head had built up an immunity to it! That wasn't cool no matter how you looked at it.

After a small minute long pity part he pushed himself up off the floor and got ready to face the world.

He pulled out one of his uniforms, on which the ties had magically changed after the sorting ceremony to a blue and bronze to match his house colours. Then, marched out his dorm and off to the bathroom he'd noticed at the end of the corridor, right next to the beginning of the seventh years' corridor.

After a quick shower he changed into his uniform and used a quick charm he'd memorised to clean the inside of his mouth. He found it worked way better then a tooth brush. It always gave him the urge to smile brightly and see if his teeth would catch the light and shine into peoples' eyes.

Going back to his room he packed all his subject books into his backpack. There was no way that he was going to walk all the way back up those stairs after he ate breakfast. It was absolute madness. He thanked Merlin that he'd brought a backpack with a permanent feather-light charm as well as an undetectable extension charm placed on it. Otherwise he'd feel as if he were lugging round a ton of bricks all day. Plus, he doubted they'd all fit in this backpack. It wasn't particularly large. Quite a small black leather thing he'd gotten after much begging and pleading with Andromeda.

No, literally. He'd had to get on his hands and knees and beg. She'd even made him kiss her shoes. Never again would he lower himself like that.

He hoped.

Sighing despondently he made his way out the dorm area and into the common room. There were only a few students who seemed to be awake at this time of day. He noticed the male prefect from yesterday, Michael Boot, searching though their library with a scowl on his face. He considered going up and saying hello, until he recalled his warning. While Harry know quite a lot of magic and while he could probably match up to a fourth year student in pure knowledge he wasn't versed in duelling. He also hadn't even had a chance to practice all the spells he'd leaned and it was rare to do a spell without ever trying or practicing before. It got even harder as the spells got more difficult. All the knowledge in the world was useless unless you knew how to use it.

He figured he would have to rectify this problem eventually. Until then he wasn't stupid enough to confront a boy who he knew could beat him into the ground. No way was he going to end up as part of the meat they served at dinner because Boot had killed him then given his mangled body to the house elves to hide the evidence. Nope, he was smarter then that.

Still, he shuddered. Sometimes his thoughts disturbed him.

Shaking his head he continued out the room and down the ever winding stairs. When he got to the bottom he frowned slightly. The staircase didn't seem nearly as long this morning as it did last night. Either being tired had messed with his mind or Hogwarts enjoyed messing with the students. Deciding that both choices had equal probability he gave up deciding which one was correct and headed in what he hoped was an easterly direction. It was the direction that the sun had seemed to rise in so he assumed it was east, what with the whole 'the sun rises in the east' thing.

Of course Hogwarts wasn't going to make his life that easy. The winding passages had eventually confused him to the point that he'd swallowed his pride and asked a painting for directions.

Turns out if he'd walked down the corridor for a bit longer and turned left he would have been at the entrance to the Great Hall. He'd blushed bright red and left the cackling, wine drinking ladies behind. The mornings were a cruel, cruel time.

Following the directions he found himself at the open doors of the Great Hall and quietly made his way inside. There were quite a few students at the Ravenclaw table, though none of them were first years. The Slytherin table seemed to contain the most number of students this early in the day. The Hufflepuff table was occupied by less students then the Ravenclaw table, whilst the Gryffindor table seemed to be completely deserted, but for three students.

_How… odd, _was his final conclusion.

He supposed it could be considered logical that most of the Slytherins would want to come out now if it was a well known fact that most of the Gryffindors came down later then the other students. After all, the houses weren't particularly fond of each other. That is if you were trying to be polite. Otherwise you could say that the two houses despised each other with a venomous hate that transcended space and time. Still, he found it weird.

He was about to walk to the Ravenclaw table when he spotted a familiar head of pink hair. Grinning happily to himself he wondered over to her table. Getting closer he noticed a distinctive frown on her face. That was unusual. He could count the number of times he'd really seen her frown on one hand, even if he was missing four fingers. Now, if he was missing three. He didn't like it. Not… the missing fingers thing, although that would be upsetting. But, rather the fact that Tonks was upset.

_Now how to get her out of her funk? _he wondered. _Shouldn't be hard. _

It was normally quite easy to get a laugh out of her. Realising that she hadn't spotted him yet, he decided to go for a simple, but effective plan.

Sneaking up behind her slowly but surely he waited until he was standing right behind her. He glanced quickly at the staff table to see if any of them were watching him. Noting that most of them were either not there or preoccupied with their food he took action. Swiftly flicking his wand out of the strap on his wrist he hid most of it in the sleeve of his robe before brushing it up against the back of her robe. It needed to be touching her robe otherwise anyone would be able to see the silvery spell as it travelled from his wand to her.

"**Rictusempra**," he murmured in his quiet husky voice.

Smirking silently he waited for the results.

Nothing.

His smirk dropped slightly and he repeated the spell.

Still Nothing.

He was frowning now.

He tried again and agin and again.

And still… Nothing.

Finally a voice interrupted his casting, "I'm not ticklish Harry."

He gasped in shock.

"But, I've been living with you for two years now," he said as he put his wand away and sat down on the bench next to her. "How could I not know that?"

"You've never tried to tickle me before," she pointed out with a despondent sigh.

"Oh yeah, I suppose your right," he said feeling sightly embarrassed that he never knew this about her even though he'd spent quite a lot of time with her. Remembering the reason he'd tried to tickle her in the first place he frowned. She still looked as upset as before. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his food.

He tried to think of a way to get her smiling, but other then making his first attempt at the cheering charm, he couldn't think of anything that would work. He also wasn't sure if his cheering charm would work on his first attempt and he didn't think it was right to use Tonks as practice. He concluded that the only way to make Tonks happy again was to eliminate the problem at its source. But first… to discover the source.

"Hey Tonks, what's wrong?" he asked, decided to go for the more straightforward method to figure it out.

"Huh…" she mumbled coming out of her staring contest with the eggs. "Oh, nothing Harry I'm fine. You know me, I'm not really a morning person."

Harry raised a brow.

"What?" she asked a bit nervously.

"I seem to recall you being quite energetic in the mornings when we were at home. In fact I seem to recall you waking me up at the crack of dawn everyday and pulling me out the room in nothing, but a pair of boxers so you could practice quidditch."

She almost cracked a smile, which Harry regarded as a huge success at this point. The little Harry in his head was doing the running man and fist pumps to celebrate the victory.

"That doesn't count, it was the holidays," she pointed out.

"Oh really, I heard from Ted and Andromeda that you've been waking up at the crack of dawn with a smile on your face since the beginning of your existence," he smirked.

"Argh… fine! I'm upset okay," she said giving in.

"So I gathered, the ever present frown on your face seems to speak for itself."

The frown deepened. No laughs for him. He sighed.

"What I want to know is why your so upset?" he asked.

She sighed and regarded Harry carefully as if assessing his honesty. He wasn't sure why, he'd always done his best to be honest with her. Well, except for that time where he tricked her into letting him call her Nymphadora. She'd ended up finding out eventually though. But, by then it was to late. Her natural defensive instincts didn't seem to flare when he called her by her given name, so Harry always had enough time to escape if she looked like she was going to turn violent.

Excluding that incident though, he'd been honest. So, he patiently waited for her to tell him.

"Fine," she sighed deeply, "me and my boyfriend broke up last night."

"You had a boyfriend?" he asked in confusion, he was sure that she hadn't mentioned a boyfriend at any point.

"Terrance Henderson, I only mentioned him in passing. I was afraid mum and dad might get on my case about having a boyfriend," she explained.

"Oh, so that's why your upset?" he asked.

"Well… yes, I suppose. But, it has more to do with the reason we broke up then the fact that we broke up. It wasn't exactly a serious relationship, I'm too young for that," she said with a wave of her hand, but the frown was till there.

"So, then why did you break up?"

"Metamorph," she said.

"Huh?" was his intelligent response.

"I'm a metamorph," she said as if that explained everything.

"And he didn't like that?" Harry asked tentatively.

She sighed and fiddled with the food on her plate. "No…" she trailed of for a moment before continuing. "No, he liked it a bit too much."

He understood. He understood now and he wasn't happy. In fact he was feeling really angry. He was furious, he hadn't felt this angry in a long time. He growled slightly under his breath. He was going to make that boy wish for death. When he found out who he was.

He seemed to deflate slightly. He didn't even know who the boy was and if he was older then Nymphadora then Harry wasn't sure he would be able to do anything about it. But, dammit he was going to try. This wasn't about him, this was about his best friend. He was going to make that boy pay for making her feel sad no matter what it took.

"What…" he swallowed back roughly, pushing back the anger in his tone. Breathing in and out deeply he continued, "What exactly did he ask you to do?"

"Look like someone else. No one at this school. Thank Merlin. I think it would hurt even more if that were true. No, it was just some girl in a magazine," she sighed again. "It sill hurt though. Makes me feel like I'm not good enough," she explained with reluctance, not sure if she should be explaining this much to an eleven year old boy.

"Inadequate," he said in a daze. Well, it was more like a fantasy of that boy's gory death. There'd been a lot of pain, blood, entrails, limbs being torn from his body and Harry's evil cackling in the background. He sighed, it was so satisfying.

"What?" Tonks asked, snapping him out of his daze.

"Inadequate, that's the word you were looking for when you said he made your feel like you weren't good enough. Inadequate," he explained.

"Oh," was her only response.

Silence seem to settle over them and they both turned back to their food. Harry still hadn't managed to make Tonks smile, but he was sure once he utterly destroyed the boy that she would feel a lot better. He just needed to practice a bit of patience. His chance would come.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry looked at the schedule Flitwick had given him. It didn't seem too demanding. He supposed it would become more so as the years progressed. For now though it was a good thing, it would give him plenty of time to plot his revenge against THAT boy.

Glancing down at the schedule again he also noticed as he read through it that most of his lessons seemed to be with the Hufflepuffs. There was occasionally a lesson with the Slytherins and one with the Gryffindors, but most of it seemed to pair Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws together.

Which meant that Gryffindor and Slytherin were together for most of their lessons. He wondered if it had always been that way or if it had been recently implemented by Dumbledore. He wondered whose insane idea at had been just so he could congratulate them on their genius. Of course the two houses would be at odds the entire time, but it would be absolutely hilarious to watch. He could see it now. The insults, the house points deductions, the glares, the hatred, the spells thrown, the pain, the crying… he sighed. _So beautiful, _he thought.

It would be magnificent to watch from a safe distance. Of course he was also eternally grateful he was placed in Ravenclaw so he wouldn't really have to deal with it. It would be way to troublesome to have to deal with that all the time. Funny from a distance it was great, but close and personal it was horrible.

_Oh well, _he thought with a sigh, _such is life._

Shrugging his shoulders he looked at his Tuesday lessons. It seemed he had double Potions with the Hufflepuffs. Then he had Defence Against the Dark Arts with them again after lunch. Nothing too demanding. Pretty simple.

Shoving his schedule into his bag he left the Great Hall and went to ask the nearest painting where the dungeons were because while he had his pride he'd also been warned about Professor Snape. According to Tonks he seemed to hate everyone and everything, dead or alive and it would be better not to get on his bad side. Turns out that he wasn't to far away and after a brief foray across past the Grand Staircase he wondered down the corridor on the left until he spotted the staircase that lead down to the Dungeons.

Entering the dark torch lit area he didn't have to walk to far until he found the entrance to Professor Snape's classroom.

Of course the three Hufflepuffs standing by the door also gave away the fact that he was in the right place. He recognised the one boy as Cedric Diggory, but was unsure of the identity of the other two. However, they all seemed very interested in their own conversation, so he decided not to intrude and leave them to it. Once more of the students had arrived they all filed in and waited for the Potions Master to arrive.

Harry had just settled himself down next to the girl, Mindy Turpin from last nights feast, when the door burst open and Professor Snape entered, his robes billowing behind him. Harry wondered if their was a specific spell one could learn to be able to do that, and if so, where could he learn it. It was so cool, and intimidating.

When he reached the front of the class he sneered down at them, Harry got the impression that he didn't really like them at all. Not in the slightest.

He went down the register and paused momentarily at Harry's name before continuing. He wondered what it was about, but decided to ignore it. When he was done he returned his attention to the class, glaring down his hooked nose at them with cold black eyes.

"You here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began his voice barely more then a whisper, and yet it they caught every word. He could catch their attention and keep it. Silence the class without trying. Harry wanted to know how. _So cool, _he thought. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually teach."

Silence followed his speech. But, on the inside Harry's mind was working fast. He was well aware of the fact that most healing was done through potions, he'd just never really thought about it before. Now that he did he realised that the route to healing his mother could be linked to potions in some way. It might not be the final answer, but it might help him find it. He nodded his head. Yes, being good at Potions could be important and so even if it was only a slight possibility he would have to try his best.

Then he stopped again. Perhaps it could also be the cure to his problem with Tonks's now ex-boyfriend._ That boy is going to pay_, he tacked on as an afterthought.

He was quite good at potions, especially since it was the only thing he could practice without a wand. One could say he even had a bit of a flare for it. He didn't find it nearly as interesting as wand based subjects, especially Charms and Transfiguration, where things just seemed to come more naturally to him, but he knew he could become good at it.

These lessons could be important, he decided.

His decision had only distracted him for a few seconds, but clearly Professor Snape had noticed. He was glaring at Harry, anger flashing in his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something to him. Something particularly unpleasant. But, as he opened his mouth he seemed to pause and look away sharply.

_Those eyes, _he thought, _you can even see her in his face. But, even the look in his eyes, so much like hers. _The Professor took a deep breath and continued around the class searching perhaps, for another student to target, but he seemed distracted.

Those eyes were like a haunting memory.

Normally he would have signalled out several students with questions that he was sure they would be unable to answer to intimidate them. However, he found that he couldn't put his mind to it. Sighing slightly he began the lesson.

He started them with a simple boil cure potions. It was the most basic potion in the book and he'd hoped that most of them wold be able to complete it without causing some major catastrophe. _Then again, _he thought, as he looked at the side of the classroom that seemed to house the most Hufflepuffs, _I am dealing with the most potion accident prone house. _

Harry was determined to make a good potion. He'd practiced this one before and knew he could make the perfect results. He partnered up with Mindy Turpin, the girl who was sitting next to him, because it seemed illogical to search for another partner. She did most of the preparations of the ingredients, although he did help at several points and he did most of the actual brewing. When he'd explained to her that he'd made the potion before she'd agreed to let him take the lead.

He had in fact practiced many other potions before too, considering that it was one of the few subjects he could actually practice without a wand.

Professor Snape seemed to move around the classroom, examining and criticising their work. Though he seemed to focus most of his criticism on the Hufflepuffs, who it seemed just lacked any sort of ability with potions, if the strangely colour potions and heated fumes coming from the left hand side of the classroom were any indication. He'd also given his fair share of insults to the students on the Ravenclaw side.

He seemed to have it out for Harry in particular. Glaring over his shoulder at their potion. However, there had been little insults from him due to the fact that there potion was one of the few that was actually coming out correct.

They were in the middle of stewing their horned slugs when clouds of yellow and black smoke began bellowing from the left hand side of the classroom. There was a loud hissing sound and the cry of one of the Hufflepuff boys.

"Cadwallader!" shouted his partner in surprise as he watched his Cadwallader get soaked in their potion. The drenched boy collapsed to the floor and moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. Harry shuddered slightly. It was certainly disturbing to watch, and it was probably even more disturbing to experience.

"You idiot boy!" snarled Professor Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" he asked.

The boy whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his noise. Harry winced in sympathy, but at the same time felt that the boy was a bit stupid to make that kind of mistake. Even if didn't have a natural talent for potions it wasn't that hard to follow the instructions written down. Plus, Potions was one of the most dangerous classes, especially for first years. The other classes caught up in danger as the years went on, but as far as first year courses went Potions was probably the most dangerous.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Professor Snape spat at his partner. Then he rounded on Cedric and his partner who had been working next to him.

"Idiots!" he cried, "Why exactly didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Did you think it would make your potion look any better if he got it wrong? Five points from Hufflepuff."

Harry had to admit that the man was being very unfair with that point deduction. He hadn't thought the man was too terrible up until then. But, taking points from the people who were working next to him because they were to busy to notice he was making a mistake to possible help him. It was absurd.

Diggory looked like he was about to protest, but caught Harry's eye before he could get the words out. Harry shook his head in warning. Tonks had told Harry that Snape could be particularly cruel, especially to Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs whom he claimed had no Potion talent at all. He hadn't really believed that the man could be that bad, but he was beginning to change his mind.

Heaving a sigh, Diggory turned back to his potion to continue.

Harry nodded his head. It was the safer and better option.

Right now though, he was just glad that he and Mindy were close to completing their potion.

He was even happier when they did finish it and it turned out okay.

Fetching a one of the glass tubes from his potions kit. He took out his wand and muttered, "**Infragillis**."

There was no way he was risking the glass breaking and them getting zero for all their effort. He hoped that Professor Snape wouldn't be that petty, but after seeing the way he treated some of his students he wouldn't put it past him. So, an unbreakable charm seemed the safest way to go.

He grinned happily when he dropped the glade tube on the floor and it didn't shatter to pieces.

"What are you doing Harry?" she asked, to scared to talk above a whisper in the tense classroom.

"Casting an unbreakable charm, I don't want the glass to break by accident," he whispered in reply.

"Isn't that a second year spell?" she asked.

"Something like that," he replied with a small grin.

She was about to ask how he even knew a second year spell when she noticed Professor Snape getting closer to their position and decided to keep her mouth shut. The professor looked into their cauldron, then looked back at them. They waited for him to say anything, but he remained silent and walked away.

Harry released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

That man could make a marble statue quake in fear and nervousness.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

After handing in their potion they headed off to lunch.

Harry felt as if the huge groundskeeper Hagrid had just been lifted off his shoulders. That lesson was tense and nerve wracking, plus Professor Snape hadn't been particularly nice at all, if one were to state it kindly.

He'd also been quite unfair.

Harry sighed as he finished lunch and checked his watch. Defence Against the Dark Arts would start in about twenty minutes and he wasn't exactly sure where the classroom was yet, he didn't want to get lost, or be late. He'd stayed a bit longer then needed because he'd been hoping to talk to Nymphadora, but he hadn't managed to spot her.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder he spun round and expected to see Tonks standing their, but was instead greeted by the two girls who'd taken great pleasure in teasing him at the feast last night. Katie Daniels and Mindy Turpin. Two sets of bright blue eyes stared at him, one set surrounded by blonde curls and the other by black silk.

He grinned at both of them, despite his disappointment that it wasn't Tonks there to greet him.

"Hello Harry," they greeted in unison and Harry wondered if they'd practised that introduction.

"Hey, Katie, Mindy," he said nodding at each girl as he greeted them.

"You want to help us find the Defence classroom?" asked the taller dark haired girl.

"Yeah sure why not?" he agreed, seeing as it didn't look like Tonks was going to appear any time soon.

"Good," they both said. Grabbing an arm each they hauled him to his feet and led him out the hall trapped between both of them.

"So, Harry," began Mindy, "you looking forward to our Defence lesson? It sounds interesting."

Still confused about his sudden forced departure from the Hall Harry took a moment to reply, "Oh, well I suppose. It doesn't seemed as interesting as Charms or Transfiguration, but still seems really interesting. It'll also be vital for us later on."

"Hmm… I myself find it the most interesting of all our lessons," said Katie.

"Why?" he asked.

"She wants to be an aurora one day," explained Mindy.

Harry raised a brow, at the fact that it was Mindy and not Katie who replied to his question.

"Are you old friends?" he asked.

"No, why would you think that?" asked Mindy with a slight frown.

"Well, you know she wants to be an auror, so-"

Mindy sighed and shook her head, "I only know because she was explaining to me earlier… sheesh."

"Oh, so why do want to be an auror?" he asks turning back to Katie.

"Well, it seems like an interesting career," she explained.

"She just thinks its cool and awesome," Mindy cut in. "I don't know how you didn't end up in Gryffindor."

Katie pouted.

"Just because I like action doesn't mean I like learning," she pleaded with a pout on her face. Harry suddenly understood why so many girls felt the urge to scream cute when he pouted. He was experiencing the same urge now. The dark haired girl looked adorable.

"Any idea what you want to do, Mindy?" he asked to distract himself from the pout.

"Nope," she said popping the 'p'. "You?"

Harry paused. He'd actually never considered it. At the moment all he was focused on was saving his mother. If something came up to help him do that he would take it. Other then that he had never really considered it. The thought was slightly disconcerting.

"No," he finally answered, "I haven't a clue."

"Really?" said Mindy in disbelief.

"Is that such a surprise?" asked Harry.

"Well, I don't know. You seem like the kind of guy who has everything figured out," said Katie.

Harry looked down at the floor with a small smile on his face.

"I really don't know though, I'm too young to really know about what I want to do. Besides there are so many interesting careers to chose from and I'm sure there are other careers that I don't know about that could be interesting too," he explained.

Katie opened her mouth to say something when Harry realised they'd found the classroom. Then he realised he had not idea how they got there, he wondered if the girls had known where they were going, or at least had a better idea then him. That would help him make sense of the situation. Shaking his head slightly he freed hi arm from Mindy's grasp and pointed at the door.

"Hey look, were here," he said.

The filed into the classroom and noticed only a few of the seats were taken yet. Most of them at the front of the classroom. This clearly indicated that the students either liked the subject or thought it would at least be interesting. Harry wasn't sure yet.

But, for now he decided he'd rather sit at the back for this class, until he was sure what their professor was like.

Taking a seat he raised his eyebrow when he realised that the girls had both taken seats on either side of him, but said nothing.

Then they waited for their teacher to arrive.

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She was an hour late! An hour. There lesson was only supposed to be two hours long and the woman was an hour late. Then, when she finally did show up, she hadn't taught them anything.

She waltzed in her brown hair pulled back into a loose bun that held up her hair haphazardly allowing pieces to flutter next to her youthful face. In fact her youthfulness surprised him. Most professor's were at least older then thirty. She appeared to be around twenty five.

She was also beautiful. Harry supposed that were she teaching and older class she'd have the boys drooling after her and the girls glaring at her because the boys were drooling after her. The thought was amusing.

When she'd finished her lazy stroll up to the front of the classroom she gave them a lazy grin, brown eyes sparkling mischievously. Harry thought that if he gave her the chance she would join the group of girls who enjoyed teasing and torturing him. She seemed like the type and that mischievous look in her eye only added to the effect.

She then introduced herself as Professor Burnette, her slight Scottish heritage giving away her heritage.

Harry thought he might be one of the few students not glaring at the woman like he wanted to set fire to her pants and laugh as she writhed in pain. He supposed that it was for several reasons. The first one being that he was confident he could do well in Defence Against the Dark Arts whether or not he had a good teacher. The second was that her lateness had given him the opportunity to continue reading the book he'd bee busy with on the train, it was a good book. The last reason being that he found the entire situation hilarious.

In fact he had to muffle his snickers into the sleeve of his robe and pretend to be coughing as he took in his classmates response to her tardiness. But, the looks on the faces of his fellow students were just so funny. They seemed to be stuck in a state of gobsmacked shock.

She'd then proceeded to tell them that she wasn't going to be teaching them much for today and she just wanted them to get to know each other because they were going to be in the same class for the rest of the year. So, they were supposed to stand up say their name and something interesting about themselves.

The first boy that went Harry recognised as the Ravenclaw boy he'd been sitting next to at the feast, Roger Davis. "My name is Roger Davis and I hope to one day play chaser on the Ravenclaw quidditch team."

And so it continued.

She went from left to right across the class room until she'd gotten to them and Katie, who sat on his left, stood up and spoke.

"My name is Katie Daniels and…" she paused to consider what to say out herself, "and I have a pet cat called Frog."

"You have a cat called Frog?" asked Harry.

"Yeah."

"Huh… would have been cooler if you called it Dog," he said with a smirk.

She looked like she was about to slap him, but he stood up, so she had to make do with a glare.

"My name is Harry Potter and I DON'T have a pet cat named Frog," he said with a slight smirk still on his face.

He received pain for his 'impudence'.

He got a punch to the shoulder that sent him face first into Mindy's lap for his trouble. She blushed violently, then scowled and shoved him face first onto the floor. Clearly she wasn't happy about his face being in her lap. The class didn't seem sure about whether or not they should laugh, but when the laugh of their professor broke through the silence they joined in. She at least could appreciate a good joke. Harry doubted Professor Snape was the same.

In fact Harry thought that the man would probably taken ten points for stupidity, five points for laughing in public and fifteen points fro making too much noise when he hit the floor and therefore disturbing the silence. Harry wondered if all the hits to the head were getting to him. He wasn't sure he was thinking straight. Sill it was a funny thought.

Despite the fact that he had now had his face hit the floor twice in one day he still thought it was worth it. Grinning despite the slight pain in his shoulder and face he sat back down in his chair as Mindy stood up to introduce herself.

"My name is Mindy Turpin and take great joy in being punctual," she said with a pointed look at the teacher. Harry got the feeling that she didn't really care about being at all, she was just trying to make a point.

The cheeky grin on his professor's face told him that he was probably correct and that their professor didn't really care.

They were probably in for a lot of waiting before class began.

Harry didn't mind, but he was pretty sure that everyone else in the class would.

SInce they were the last students she then stood up and gave them another lazy grin. "Since you all told me a little about yourselves I suppose I should return the favour. My name is Ina Burnette and I hope to obtain my Master's in Defence Against the Dark Arts by the end of this year."

They all nodded along. Some of them not even sure what a Masters was. But, Harry knew. He hoped to obtain one in Transfiguration and Charms at least one day. Perhaps one of his electives when he began to understand more about them.

Still, she was very young to wish to obtain her Masters in a subject. Most witches or wizards were quite a bit older then her when they attempted to obtain their Masters. Most never tried to obtain them at all. A lot of witches and wizards didn't even know what they were. He knew his mother had received her Master's in Charms and had been aiming for one in Potions and Ancient Runes before the war began. His father had been aiming to get his in Transfiguration before the war as well. Then things like that weren't as important. They had to be pushed to the side in the fight for your life.

Pushing such thoughts from his mind he focused back on the lesson or lack there of.

"Well, since that's done, you can go now. We'll start your real learning next time I see you."

Most of the students sat there and stared at her in absolute in disbelief. Their teacher was the laziest person to ever walk the earth, was the common thought amongst many.

Being the first to wake from his daze Harry checked his watch. Their lesson was supposed to be another half hour long. Snickering slightly at the stunned looks on his friend's faces he picked up his bag, and slung it over his shoulder.

Turning to the two girls next who'd been sitting next to him he sighed. He supposed he should help them out in their less then aware state of mind. They didn't appear as if they were going to wake from their daze any time soon so, he made his best attempt at guiding them both slowly into a standing position. Handing them their bags then leading them out the classroom, trying his best not to laugh at their gobsmacked faces and automaton like actions.

Despite the lateness and the lack of actual teaching Harry couldn't help, but like Professor Burnette.

She would certainly bring some laughs to their DADA class.

Harry could always use some laughter.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It hadn't been time for dinner yet and Harry didn't feel like heading back to the common room, so he lead them both out onto the grounds towards the Black Lake that seemed to glow eerily one afternoon light.

Noticing a tree slightly along the bank he led his still dazed friends towards it.

He plopped down against the trunk and sighed heavily running his fingers through his hair. Now, as he sat there in the afternoon light he realised that he was feeling slightly worn out, though he wasn't sure why. He guessed it had to do with being in a new place and everything.

Realising that his two friends were still standing there with a slightly glazed look in their eyes he sighed. Reaching forward slightly he grabbed both of their hands and yanked them to the floor. Both of them landing hard on the floor.

The sudden movement seemed to shake both of them from their daze.

"Did we really just have a lesson-" began Katie

"-that lasted only half an hour-" continued Mindy.

"-where we learned absolutely nothing?" ended Katie.

Harry wondered if they'd been taking lessons with the Weasley twins. They were good.

"Well, actually we did learn something," said Harry.

"Oh really… what?" asked Mindy.

"We learnt that Katie has a cat named frog and is in desperate need of assistance when if comes to naming her pets," Harry answered.

Katie shoved him playfully, with a slight smile on her face. She wasn't as bothered by the teasing when they were alone.

"Why are we out here anyway?" she asked.

"It's still to early for dinner. Unless you normally eat dinner at two thirty?" he asked with a raised brow.

"No, but I am hungry," said Katie rubbing her stomach.

"Me to, this whole three meals a day thing is irritating. I normally like to have more snacks in-between that," he said. "I'm going to have to fins out where the kitchens are," he muttered to himself.

"Did you say something, Harry?" asked Mindy.

"Hmmm… what? Oh, no, just thinking about how I could find a way around it."

Mindy nodded her head in acceptance.

"Why didn't we go back to the common room?" questioned Mindy.

"I didn't feel like it," Harry replied with a shrug. "Plus, it looks really great out here."

They nodded in agreement.

Silence enveloped them as they all gazed out across the lake just taking everything in. You could see a few students walking between the Greenhouses and the school. Other's seemed to be enjoying the afternoon similarly to them. You could even here the occasional bout of laughter coming from the big stone building behind them. It was idyllic.

Harry looked out at the grounds and found himself wondering if his mother or father had ever sat there before him. If they had once looked upon the same scene he had. He wondered if there was any advice they would have given him. If they'd want him to do something different. If they would be okay with who he was now.

He wondered what they'd think of Nymphadora.

He hoped they's be okay with his idea of revenge, but even still. Now, that he thought about it, he wold go through with his plan whether they approved or not. She deserved to be defended and he would do it no matter what. He'd make that boy pay and get a smile on her face. Besides, both his parents had been in Gryffindor, according to Andromeda and Ted, at least one of them would have approved of his plan.

Weren't they the gutsy, brave, defend the innocent no matter what type of people. Surely that meant they'd be fine with it.

Then he considered the whole angle of revenge never being the answer and such things, then pushed it away. No matter what anyone thought he was going to get revenge.

The question now was how? He sighed heavily.

At the sound of Harry's sigh both girls looked at him questioningly.

"Alright, I may or may not have had an anterior motive in getting you out here," he said.

"May or may not?" asked Katie.

Harry almost laughed at the deja vu moment he experienced as he remembered the the first time he saw Nymphadora's picture and his talk with her parents. Except that time he'd been on the other end of that question.

"Alright fine, I definitely had an ulterior motive in getting you out here," he said with a cheeky grin.

Both girls looked at him wearily. Wondering what exactly the boy had in store.

"How do you feel about a little revenge?" he asked with a raised brow, cheeky grin still on his face.

"What kind of revenge?" they asked feeling weary, but with a look of interest in their eyes.

"A boy that broke a girls heart and made her feel inadequate," he explained. Alright so he may have exaggerated. The boy didn't break her heart, but he did make her feel inadequate. That was bad enough, but he needed to be sure of their support.

They looked at each other for a few moments before nodding and looking at Harry.

"We're in."

**Author's Note: **I went with the idea that they arrived at Hogwarts on Monday and had their first lessons on a Tuesday. I think this is how they did it in the books because according to my research Harry's first lesson was Charms, and that happened on a Tuesday in the books. However, I have taken the basic schedule that Harry had in his Gryffindor first year and rearranged it because if we assume that they use the same schedule every year then my Harry would have different lessons to cannon Harry because my Harry is in Ravenclaw.

I also didn't have Snape pick on Harry for several reasons. the first being that one of the reasons Snape hated Harry in cannon was because he always saw Lily's eyes looking out of James's face. The Harry in my story isn't an exact replica of his father although he does look very similar. Also, the reason Snape could get away with hating Harry in front of his students was because he was the boy who lived and in Gryffindor. This Harry is a Ravenclaw and no one particularly important. So, I kept Snape's hate to a more passive form.

Whew… that felt long winded just to write. I'm sorry I keep writing such long Author's Notes I just often feel the need to explain myself


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter… sniff… sniff… so depressing.

**Author's Note: **I was kind of stuck on what tho write for this chapter, well not so much stuck as a just couldn't find the inspiration. But, I was listening to Mezame by Kajiura Yuki (I still vote it best anime battle music ever!) when I got a little inspired.

I feel that my last chapter really wasn't up to scratch. This is due to several reasons that can basically be boiled down to boredom, procrastination and too much work. Such is life, my little followers. Sigh… anyway, onward with the chapter!

'Fishing' - Normal

_**'**_**Fishing**_**' - **_Spells

_'Fishing'_ - Thoughts or Dreams

**Previously:**

"How do you feel about a little revenge?" he asked with a raised brow, cheeky grin still on his face.

"What kind of revenge?" they asked feeling weary, but with a look of interest in their eyes.

"A boy that broke a girls heart and made her feel inadequate," he explained. Alright so he may have exaggerated. The boy didn't break her heart, but he did make her feel inadequate. That was bad enough, but he needed to be sure of their support.

They looked at each other for a few moments before nodding and looking at Harry.

"We're in.

**Chapter 6:**

_Food… it was everywhere…._

_It surrounded him in all its glory freely giving itself to him to devour. Those beautiful little scrumptious morsels. So wonderful in their magnificence. Like that little bit of cake right near his face just begging for him to take a bite and…_

In the real world Harry was drooling. The little bits of spit slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth onto the wooden desk underneath his head. A goofy grin on his face as he imagined devouring the mountains of food. The rest of the class was a bit too preoccupied with performing their spell correctly then to care about the sleeping Ravenclaw in the corner of the room. Well, the students were too busy. The teacher, however, was not.

Professor McGonagall's ears seemed to almost quiver as she detected a disturbance within the mutterings of her students. It was barely there. But, with her cat like hearing she managed to detected a faint wavering in the sound that should have been consistent throughout the classroom. She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, waiting to detect the sound again.

Pause.

Wait.

Pause.

There it was!

The sound of… she froze. _Who would dare! _she growled in her head.

She spun round and found the source of the noise. A dark look upon her face. Though it softened slightly when she realised who her victim was. The son of her old favourite troublemaking student. But, she hardened her face. She would not let him become the troublemaking student James was. She was too old to deal with that kind of thing again… and sleeping in class would only lead him down a darker route. Who knew what kind of troublemaking he could get involved in if his disobedience began now.

This final thought hardened her resolve and she marched towards the snoring student. Reaching his desk at the back of classroom she slammed the textbook she'd been holding onto his desk with a loud bang. She'd had her speech ready for when he leapt awake like any normal student. But, she greatly surprised by his reaction.

There wasn't one.

He seemed to stir slightly, lift has hand up and take hold of the book now lying on his desk. The now silent class watched in anticipation as he slowly dragged it towards his mouth and start gnawing on the cover releasing a groan of content as he did so.

The class was shocked. Professor McGonagall was shocked. It was shocking.

Suddenly waking from her dumbstruck daze she realised what was happening to her book and yanked it from his grasp. He frowned adorably at the loss of his chew toy looking much like a toddler who'd had his favourite toy stolen. Until, Professor McGonagall smacked him on the back of the head with said textbook.

That at least managed to stir him into a state of wakefulness. He blinked sleepily and looked up at the imposing Professor who looked down at him with a stern visage. He looked blearily round at the rest of the class and found that they too were looking at him - though his vision was still too blurry to make out the expressions on their faces. He looked back a the Professor and rubbed his eyes.

"What ya want?" he mumbled as he tried desperately to jump start his brain into action.

"Mr. Potter, are you aware that this is in fact your Transfiguration class?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Hmmm…" he looked around and realised why the situation seemed so strange. He looked up his Professor a surprised look, "So it is."

"And are you aware that you are not supposed to be sleeping in my class?"

"Yeah…" he he said unsurely.

"Then why were you sleeping?" she asked.

"'Cause I was sleepy," he mumbled feeling himself nodding off again.

She noticed his unfocused state and brought him back to the half wakeful state he'd been in before with a sharp, "Mr. Potter."

"Sorry Professor, what where you saying?" asked with furrowed brows.

"I asked why you where sleeping?" she said with a frown, wondering why the boy was nodding off. He'd been fine in her previous classes and she wondered why he was half asleep now.

"Oh!" he said, as if he'd discovered all the answers to life's mysteries. "I'm finished my spell."

"You've managed to turn your button into a thimble?" she asked. It was surprising, yes, but not shocking. He'd performed better then any student she'd had the pleasure of teaching in his previous classes. Which was why she was confused about his impromptu nap.

She then looked at the button on his desk and raised a brow, "It still looks like a button to me."

"What?" he looked at the button in his desk and frowned for a moment before smiling as he remembered why. "It's 'cause I changed it back."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yeah, look I'll prove it to you," he said picking up this wand that was lying next to his hand. "Pugavertopyga" he muttered as he pointed his wand at the little button. He thought the spell name was a bit weird too.

Immediately the little black button began to shift and morph into the metal form of a thimble. She was quite pleased with his achievement and almost forgot about his earlier transgression. In fact she would have completely forgotten, but when she turned back to congratulate him he'd fallen back to sleep again. Head resting against the desk though the snoring hadn't started yet.

She frowned and banged the book on his desk again. This time he did jump to wakefulness and nearly fell off his chair.

"Despite the fact that you did complete the assignment in class I'm afraid I cannot let this transgression slide. Detention Mr. Potter," she said and walked off before he could muster up the thought to protest.

She knew that it was quite a harsh punishment for sleeping in her class, particularly for a first year student, she was normally more lenient with them, but this was different. He was a good student and she found herself quite upset with him. He had good potential. She wouldn't let him stray. _Besides, _she thought, _I can not deal with another Marauder. It'll kill me this time._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"So we on for today?" asked Mindy as she and Katie sidled up to him.

"No."

A beat of silence.

"What?" cried Katie. "We've been planning this thing for months!"

"Two weeks Katie, two weeks," he sighed.

"Who cares! My point is why the hell not?" she yelled in exasperation.

He sighed, "I managed to get myself in detention." he paused for a moment. "How can you not know that? You were there in the lesson."

"Well, we were a bit preoccupied," said Katie with a blush.

Mindy snorted, "Yeah, she managed to give her button legs and it was running all over the classroom. We both spent most of the time trying to chase it down until Professor McGonagall helped us."

"Priceless," said Harry with a laugh.

Katie blushed again.

"But, how'd you manage to get yourself detention Harry?" asked Mindy. "I mean, I thought Professor McGonagall liked you."

"I fell asleep in class," mumbled Harry mumbled too quiet for them to here.

"What?" asked Mindy.

Harry sighed, "I fell asleep in class okay."

Katie burst out laughing, but Mindy frowned. "That's a bit harsh isn't it. I mean, I think the Weasley twins managed to set someone's pants on fire during their lesson and they didn't get detention."

He shrugged, "Maybe I caught her on a bad day or something?"

"It's possible," agreed Mindy with a nod.

Katie was still laughing, so they didn't get her opinion on the matter.

"Either way, we're going to have to push it back a day and try tomorrow," he said running his hand through his hair and messing up his already messy hair.

Mindy nodded.

Katie finally stopped laughing, "Well, at least we've got flying lessons this afternoon to look forward to."

Harry and Mindy nodded in agreement. Well, Harry nodded. Mindy looked like she was about to throw up, but managed to get her head moving in a way that resembled nodding.

"You alright?" asked Harry, looking at Mindy with concern.

Getting herself under a semblance of control Mindy nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Absolutely fantastic."

"Yes, because that sounded completely believable," said Katie with a snort.

"While I wouldn't quite put it like that Katie's right, you can't really expect us to believe that. You still look slightly green," Harry said.

"Look, I had a bad experience with a broom when I was a kid."

"Come on," Harry smiled, "it can't have been that bad."

"Oh no, it was bad."

"Seriously Mindy, I'm sure it's fine," reassured Katie.

"Yeah, you can tell us. I'm sure we've seen and heard worse," Harry pled.

"Oh, I doubt that," she said with a shake of her head.

"Come on please," begged Katie.

She looked at them both for several moments before nodding, "Fine I'll tell you. But, I swear to Merlin, if you tell anyone else I'll get the Weasley twins to set you both on fire."

They both paled when she invoked the Weasley twins. They'd already caused enough mayhem for caution to be warranted.

"I swear I won't tell a soul," said Harry.

"Me either," nodded Katie in agreement.

"Fine," she sighed and rubbed her brow. "I was about seven when my parents decided it would be okay to let me try fly a broom. It wasn't even a proper broom, it was one of those training ones that you get for when children are first learning-"

"They have training brooms," Harry interrupted. "I'll kill Tonks."

Mindy raised a brow.

"Sorry, I have a bad habit of interrupted people's explanations, carry on."

"As I was saying. I was seven when I was given a training broom to ride. Actually, I should say it was my seventh birthday party and all my friends and family were there…" she trailed off.

"I smell something embarrassing," murmured Katie in Harry's ear.

He nodded his head in agreement.

Wincing slightly at the memory she continued, "So, I was really excited, you know. My first chance to try riding a broomstick and all that. Every wizarding child looks forward to that. Unfortunately, no one told me that you shouldn't attempt to do that straight after eating or wearing a dress. I'm sure you can guess what happened after that. I fell, gave everyone a lovely flash of my knickers and threw up."

They both stared at her.

"And just for good measure, I landed in a pile of mud. Now every time I go near a broomstick I start feeling sick and get the shakes," she mumbled.

Katie - unable to restrain herself any longer - burst out laughing. Harry found himself in a similar situation, but he at least managed to stop himself by biting the back of his hand and muffling the sound.

She frowned at them both. "It's not funny!" she shouted, "That was one of the most traumatic experience's of my life!"

Harry finally gave into the laughter.

She threw her hands up in exasperation and made to storm off, but Harry stopped her.

"I know it's traumatic and-" he stopped briefly to laugh again, "-it's clear that it effected you, but that doesn't make it any less funny."

She actually growled at him and tried to yank her arm away. It didn't work, Harry had a strong grip.

"Oh come on Mindy," he said pulling her in to a hug that rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't be mad."

She resisted for a few seconds before giving in.

"Thanks Harry," she said against the material of his robe.

After a few more moments she realised that he was still hugging her.

"Harry… Harry," she said shaking his shoulder.

Katie moved round their bodies to get a better look at Harry's face. She laughed hysterically when she realised what had happened.

"Harry, get off," she said forcefully pushing him off only to send him crashing to the floor in a heap. She expected him to get up straight away and yell at her for pushing him to the floor when she got a good look at his face and shook her head in exasperation.

He'd managed to fall asleep again. He'd also somehow managed to sleep through the crash to the floor that would have managed to wake anyone else. She sighed in exasperation. She nudged the side of his body with her shoe, "Come on Harry."

He frowned for a moment before shuffling a bit then latching himself to her leg, wrapping his whole body round it. She flushed in embarrassment and exasperation. Katie just kept laughing. Mindy briefly wondered if someone had cast a cheering charm on the girl to make her laugh so much.

"Harry," she said shaking her leg.

She got no reaction, but for a disgruntled frown on his face.

Heaving a sigh she dug through her back pack and pulled out the biggest book she could find. Looking down a the messy head she winced at what she was about to do, but there just weren't any other options. Hefting it slightly she got a better grip and the sides before preparing herself. Swinging it back she closed her eyes at the top before letting the weight of the book carry her swing back down and into the back of Harry's head sending him sprawling across the floor in mess of limbs.

They both looked at him waiting for his reaction.

He shifted slightly before moving his arms underneath his body and pushing up so that he was on all fours. Shaking his head slightly he blinked blearily at the floor before turning his head to look at the two girls behind him. Looking back at the floor he shook his head again, then raised his hand to rub at the back of his head. Stumbling to his feet he stared at them both.

"Did one of you hit me in the back of the head?" he asked.

"No," they both said shaking their heads.

"Huh?" he said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I could swear I was just hit in the back of the head with a book."

"Nope," said Mindy.

"No one touched your head," agreed Katie and she was technically telling the truth. No one had touched his head, but a giant book had, specifically _Hogwarts, A History_, by _Chroniclus Punnet. _

"Oh," said Harry with a slight frown. "Well, come one then. Don't we have lunch now?"

They both nodded.

"Let's go then," he said walking towards the Great Hall.

They both nodded and followed him down the corridor.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

At three-thirty that afternoon the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs made their way out onto the field for their flying lesson. While they were looking forward to the lesson they weren't nearly as excited for it as the Gryffindor's and Slytherins had been yesterday. Mostly because the Gryffindors and Slytherins had attempted to out do each other yesterday and had ended up with five boys landing in the lake. Two of which were obviously the Weasley twins. Harry was sure that there wasn't one bit of trouble that happened where the Weasley twins weren't involved.

Still, he was looking forward to today. He might have been a bit more excited if his excitement hadn't been muffled by sleepiness. It was a clear, breezy day - _Perfect for flying, _he thought as they all marched down the slops of rippling green grass.

He was a bit upset about what he'd heard of the school brooms that they had to use. According to Tonks some of brooms started to randomly vibrate if you flew them too high and several of them pulled to the left or the right. He expected better of Hogwarts because they were considered one of the top schools throughout the world. He noticed their teacher up ahead and hurried his pace to get there quicker.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, had sharp yellow eyes and silver hair that ruffled slightly in the breeze. Harry wondered if she had minor metamorph powers because silver hair and yellow eyes certainly weren't normal even in the wizarding world.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

They quickly lined up behind the brooms on the lawn under Madam Hooch's watchful eye. Harry looked down at the broom in front of him with a critical eye. It was certainly old. The dark wood had faded from being out in the sun to much and the finish looked rough from the low upkeep. Several twigs stuck out at odd angles too and he hoped they wouldn't affect his flying abilities.

He would have examined the broom closer, but he noticed that Mindy was looking distinctly uncomfortable as she looked at her broom. Feeling a touch of sympathy he reached out and squeezed her hand, giving her a comforting smile. She glancing at him and seemed to calm slightly, mouthing a quick 'thank you'.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called out Madam Hooch.

"What if you're left handed?" asked Harry.

"Excuse me," said Madam Hooch, clearly not used to being interrupted.

"I said what if you're left handed?" he repeated.

"Well, then do the opposite," she said.

Harry and one other Hufflepuff moved to the other side of their broom's.

"Now that we have that sorted out. Hold your hand over your broom and say, 'Up'!"

Harry had never heard of this method to get your broom into your hand, but shouted along with everyone else.

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Mindy's actually looked like it rolled away from her slightly. Katie's rubbed against her foot like an affectionate puppy and Harry muffled a laugh against his free hand as he watched. He swear the broom actually made a pathetic whining sound. Katie gave Harry a dark glare.

Once everyone had finally managed to get their broom's in their hands Madam Hooch then showed them the correct way to mount them without sliding off the end. After they'd all managed to get that right she walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry was proud that he'd actually had the right one.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly."

"You ready?" she asked.

Everyone nodded like a bunch of bobble heads.

"On my whistle three - two - one," she then blew on the whistle hard.

Harry and several students pushed off from the ground and managed to do exactly as instructed. However, this was a first year class, and things were bound to go wrong. No matter what way you looked at it. Harry was just glad it wasn't Mindy. She hadn't even managed to push herself off the ground and just stood there with the broom in her hands, eyes wide.

A small Hufflepuff boy lost control of his broom or maybe he never really had control of it to begin with. The broom really did seem to have mind of its own. Harry resisted the urge to cry out 'Bucking Bronco!', he very much doubted it would be appreciated. Especially when the bucking broom sent the boy flying through the air and directly towards a Roger Davies on the other side. Davies seemed to be pretty good on his broom, but he was bit preoccupied with helping the boy next to him and only noticed the incoming first year at the last minute.

He tried to swerve out the way at the last second and ended up colliding with the student on his left sending the girl spinning into another student creating a domino effect. Harry was happy that they went off in the opposite direction. He would not want to be a part of that wonderful experience. It wasn't on his bucket list and he considered that it might the last thing he ever did.

By the end of things there was a pile of about ten students heaped on top of each other. Harry wondered if it would be inappropriate to shout, 'Pile on!' and jump on the crushed students.

Harry looked to Madam Hooch expecting some huge reaction out of her, but this clearly wasn't an occurrence that was too uncommon. She stood there rubbing her forehead and muttering under her breath about ridiculous first years. Seeming to gather herself together she turned to the uninjured students and dismissed us before heading off to the pile on. This lesson clearly wasn't going to be continued.

Dropping back down to the floor Harry tapped the gobsmacked Mindy on the shoulder and gave her a big grin.

"See," he said with a smile, "I told you everything would turn out fine."

"B-b-but-" she began.

"Aren't you glad you weren't there," he said throwing an arm over her shoulder.

She nodded as she still continued to stare at the mess.

"Hey! You two coming?" asked Katie looking mildly upset.

"What's the matter Katie?" asked Harry with concern. Then he suddenly realised what was wrong. "You upset that you didn't get the chance to fly?"

"Yes! I mean come on! I've been looking forward to showing Madam Hooch how awesome I am since the beginning of term! But, when we finally get our lesson, what happens? Some stupid Hufflepuff had to go and lose control of his broom!" she cried in frustration as she led them up to the castle.

Harry just laughed and gave her a big smile. "Don't worry Katie, you'll get your chance. I have a feeling that this isn't that uncommon," he said throwing his arm over her shoulder too so that he had both the girls next to him. "Now come on. We've got enough time to get our homework done before."

They both groaned, but followed Harry as he lead them up to the castle.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Damn," muttered Harry as he looked at his watch, "I've got to go or McGonagall's gonna go crazy if I miss detention."

"But, Harry," whine Katie, "you haven't finished helping me with my transfiguration homework. You know it's my worst subject."

"Sorry Katie. Ask Mindy for help," he suggested as jogged out the common room.

Sprinting down the corridors he reached Professor McGonagall's classroom leaning against her doorway as he panted for air. Raising her head from her marking she looked at him from over the top of her glasses as she observed his exhausted form.

"Just in time Mr. Potter," she said gesturing for him to enter.

He followed her instructions and walked over to the first row of classroom desks, plopping down in the chair closest to the centre passage.

"So what am I going to be doing today Professor?" he asked as he looked around for whatever work it was she'd arranged for him to do as punishment. When he noticed nothing he frowned for a moment. _She wouldn't make me write lines right? _he thought. _That would be worse then any menial labour task. _

She watched as he looked around for some sort of work. Paled for a moment then looked at her with stricken eyes. "I'm not writing lines? Am I Professor?" he asked.

She shook her head in amusement, "No Mr. Potter. You will not be writing lines."

He sighed in relief.

"I've decided on a less traditional task for you," she stood up from her desk and walked around until she was in front of him. "Follow me Mr. Potter," she said as she walked towards the back of her classroom.

Reaching a small cat statue that he'd never noticed before she stroked along it's ear all the way to its tail and he wondered what on earth she was doing before the stones began to shuffle and move to the sides, revealing an arch way. Raising an eyebrow he followed the stern woman into the dusty room where old books and scrolls seemed to be lying around the area in absolute chaos.

He stared in disbelief at the dark dusty room in front of him before turning his disbelieving gaze to Professor McGonagall, mouth hanging open in shock.

"I've decided to put that brain all the Professor's seem to brag about being in your head to good use," she gestured to the room in front of them. "Your job, Mr. Potter, is to organise these books and scrolls. I've never been able to use this room much, it was more of a quick place to store things. There's just too much in here to go through and organise. Professor Dumbledore couldn't either because this mess was left here from his predecessor and all the previous transfiguration students. I once tried to get the House Elves to organise the room, but that just seemed to make everything worse."

"B-b-but, P-p-profes-fes-sor, I'll n-n-never finish all of th-th-this in o-o-one day," he said as he stared at the room.

Professor McGonagall frowned, "I know. This detention will be continued after classes until you finish organising the room."

Harry was dumbstruck, he felt like screaming. He'd fallen asleep in class! Fallen asleep IN CLASS! That was it. Nothing completely heinous and horrible. Why was she trying to break his mental health? Was she out to get him? Destroy him? _What did I do wrong in a past life? What did I do to deserve this?_

But, all Professor McGonagall saw was a slight twitch of his eye as evidence to his inner turmoil.

Shrugging to herself she turned around and left the room letting the stones shift shut behind her.

As soon as the last stone fell into place Harry collapsed to his knees staring at the ceiling.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he howled to roof like an injured wolf.

On the outside Professor McGonagall frowned. She swore she heard someone shouting. Shaking her head she turned back to her marking, hoping she wasn't going crazy.

**Author's Note: **Not nearly as long as my last chapter. Like half the length. Anyway this chapter is more of a filler that was required for me to write the next chapter where everything happens. McGonagall might have seen a bit too strict in this chapter, but it will all be explained next time. Think of this chapter as like a part one of two. Anyway, next time we get to see the prank! Also, Harry finds something during detention that raises some questions. McGonagall has things to answer for.

I have to confess that I just couldn't write that flying scene without every possible sexual innuendo popping into my head. I tried my best to write around them because, although other people's minds just aren't that dirty I couldn't help it.

Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

This is not a chapter.

This is me telling you that I will no longer be continuing this story. Well, I will either be stopping or reworking this fic.

I know a lot of you are going to hate me for this. In fact I hate me for this. I really do. I consider myself right now to be the biggest hypocrite to ever walk the earth.

If you are going to go onto the reviews and send me hate mail then please at least read my reasons why first. That way at least you can give me constructive hate mail rather then straight up hate without knowledge.

There are several reasons why I am discontinuing this fic.

The first reason is that I feel like I've lost sight of the way I originally wanted to portray the characters. Particularly in regards to Harry. People go on and on about making sure you have a steady plot line and a plan of where you want to take your story… and they are right. But, there is more to it then that. I had a plot line, I knew where I wanted to take the story. I had a plan. However, I lots sight of the characters. I didn't put enough that into who I wanted them to be. This resulted in me going completely off course from the way they were in the beginning.

The next reason is that I don't feel happy using an idea that was originally created by someone else. Yes, yes I know that that is what fan fiction is actually based around, but it is not what I'm referring to in this instance. What I mean is that the plot line that I took the idea that I used about Harry not being the boy who lived and being older then cannon and blah blah blah is not my idea.

I thought it would be interested to write the story more because I wanted to complete the original in my own way rather then because I had my own idea. I think that because of this it killed my inspiration. It made me feel like I was using someone else's idea in a way that writing any other fanfic never does.

Onto my third reason.

I got lost in the humour.

It just went to my head and I just got lost in it. I felt like because people found my story funny during the first chapter that I had to continue to make the story just as funny throughout or I would lose readers. I think this also lead to the degradation of my original Harry in the first chapter into the person he became in the later chapters because while it was funny - and it was - it also wasn't the way I wanted the character to go. It ruined me. The humour just ruined me.

Next I would like you to know that I will not be giving up on writing Harry Potter fanfic, just this one. I will probably be reworking this story completely so that it is more original. So much so that it will be difficult to recognise or I will be just deleting it and writing a whole new one.

Either way it is going to change.

My final reason is that I just don't think I was ready for this fic. I didn't truly realise how much of my time it would require and I wasn't ready for it. Writing a good solid fanfic for Harry Potter is no easy task and I wasn't truly aware of how difficult it was. For me details are important and with Harry Potter there are a lot of details required. Next time I write and HP fic I'll know what I'm getting into.

And with that I bid you farewell readers.

For those of you who particularly liked this story I really am sorry that I will not be continuing it. It's actually one of the reasons that deciding to can this fic was so difficult. I'd been thinking about it since before I posted the last chapter. But, I really mulled it over before making a decision.

If enough people are opposed to the idea of me ending this fic I might reconsider, but it isn't likely.

I'm sorry. Anyway, I'm out


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